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Citi Foundation Creates $11.2m Program with SEEP Network to Strengthen Trade Associations

Written by: David Satterthwaite

Article Overview: The Citi Foundation will work with the Small Enterprise Education and Promotion Network (SEEP) to create the 3-year USD 11.2 million Citi Network Strengthening Program. The program will include 12 major microfinance trade associations and their members. The program’s goal will be to improve the integration of microfinance into the mainstream economies of developing countries. This includes improving participating trade associations’ ability to develop products and services which meet their clients’ needs. In addition, the program seeks to “enhance the industry’s infrastructure, introduce higher standards of management and governance, and promote the vital role of microfinance in providing the poor with access to financial services.”

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Citi Foundation Creates $11.2m Program with SEEP Network to Strengthen Trade Associations

The Citi Network Strengthening Program will attempt to achieve these goals by doing comprehensive assessments of the trade associations’ capacity to meet its members’ needs. In addition, it will conduct in-depth reports on the microfinance industry in the respective country or region. Finally, the program will include business, strategic, and implementation plans that may consist of new technologies, advocating interest rate liberalization, establishing rating agencies, creating local debt and equity ratings funds, and developing links between the commercial and microfinance sectors.

The 12 participating trade associations represent roughly 60 countries, 1,300 microfinance organization members and microfinance institutions (MFIs), and 19 million clients. Of these 12 trade associations, 7 are already members of the SEEP Network. The trade associations by region are as follows:

* Asia Pacific: Banking With the Poor Network, China Association for Microfinance, Microfinance Council of the Philippines, India’s Sa-Dhan, and Pakistan Microfinance Network
* Africa: Association of Microfinance Institutions in Uganda
* Americas: Mexico’s ProDesarrollo, Ecuador’s Red Financiera Rural, and Central America’s REDCAMIF
* Europe: Microfinance Centre for Central & Eastern Europe & New Independent States, and Russian Microfinance Center
* Middle East: Sanabel

The SEEP Network is an international organization with the goal of connecting microenterprise practitioners via a global learning community. The group focuses on developing best practice standards in enterprise development and financial services. It consists of 67 members in over 140 countries, reaching over 23 million clients.

The Citi Foundation is the grant-making arm of international financial conglomerate Citigroup and focuses its grants on microfinance and microentrepreneurship. The Citi Foundation has contributed nearly USD 60 million in funding for 250 MFIs, trade associations, and microenterprise programs in 55 countries. Citigroup also has Citi Microfinance, a business unit focused on commercial activities and introducing new products to MFIs. Citi Microfinance has worked with over 70 MFIs in over 35 countries in Asia, Latin America, Africa, Eastern Europe, and the Middle East.

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Home > African-Accounts > David Satterthwaite > Citi Foundation Creates $112m Program with SEEP Network to Strengthen Trade Associations
Article Tags: central eastern europe, china association, dhan, financiera rural, global learning community, implementation plans, independent states, interest rate liberalization, mfis, microenterprise practitioners, microenterprise programs, microfinance council of the philippines, microfinance industry, microfinance institutions, microfinance network, network africa, new independent, organization members, sanabel, trade associations

About the Author: David Satterthwaite
RSS for David's articles - Visit David's website

David brings 10 years of experience in microfinance management, social entrepreneurship, non-profit management/fund-raising and microfinance investment research. David is the Chairman and President of Prisma Microfinance, Inc., a retail “microbank” operating in Central America. He is also Chief Editor of MicroCapital.org, a news and information service for the microfinance community and its investors. Each month, MicroCapital.org publishes the MicroCapital Monitor, the leading industry newspaper. David writes and speaks frequently on microfinance. He has been a quest speaker at many events, including: Microcredit Summit 5+: Panel on Private Investment, Milken Institute Global Conference, United Nations Year of Microcredit Symposium for Wall Street, Chicago Conference on Microfinance, Harvard Social Enterprise Conference, Dartmouth’s Business Sustainability Conference, Wharton’s Conference on Social Entrepreneurship, Stanford’s Social Enterprise Club, Columbia’s Social Enterprise Program and the Net Impact Annual Conference. Through his work with Prisma and MicroCapital, he has been featured or quoted in The Wall Street Journal, the Boston Globe, “All Things Considered,” Reuters and SocialFunds.com. David has been recognized with the Compaq Computer Corporation Leadership Award, the City Year Inspiring Leader Award and the National Social Venture Business Plan Competition award for Best Social Impact Analysis. David has supported many non-profit and for-profit social enterprises in different capacities, including Access Technology Learning Center, Agora Partnerships, Bridges to Business, City Year, Fonkoze, Kiva and National Social Venture Competition. David holds a B.A. with Honors in Political Science from Haverford College.

Click here to visit David's website
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