Strategic Planning

From December to March, RADIM has been working on its strategic planning in conjunction with two consultants, Mario Rovere and Elsa Lebram.

The fundamental composition of the network—as a group of nodes that control the network, which itself should be planning more general activities—has generated a situation in which the line between what responsibilities and rights are held by partners and what responsibilities and rights fall to the network.  What we are defining are the properties, duties, and responsibilities of the network.  However, each individual situation will be taken into consideration, and modifications can be made to the manner in which it is handled by the network.

To structure these modifications, we used a combination of methodologies including consulting and workshops with participants from all members who wanted to form part of a “planning council for the network that will permit us to learn planned planning.”  The process included a workshop on March 2nd and 3rd, whose objective was to facilitate the approval of the Strategic Plan 2007-2010 in the April meeting of the Directive Commission. 

Presentation of the Diagnostic of Needs for Institutional Strengthening of RADIM partners

During the months of September, October, and November we carried out a deep investigation into the training and technical assistance needs of the MFIs in our network.

This activity resulted in the eventual provision of the “Diagnostic of Needs for Institutional Strengthening of RADIM Partners,” which was presented and shared with the partners and adherent members so that they could work on the articulation of actions leading to the improvement of their institutions.

The process was led by the point person for the Area of Institutional Fortification, Magdalena Frigerio.  Along with the members of RADIM, she will be using the results of this diagnostic to plan the upcoming three years’ strategic planning activities. 

For more information please contact Magdalena Frigerio: mfrigerio@reddemicrocredito.org

Interview with La Nación newspaper

In January the Argentine newspaper, La Nación, published a special supplement about microcredit.  RADIM had the chance to be interviewed and explain its work, the work of its partners, and also to state its position on the main challenges currently faced by the sector.  The consequences have been important and immediate, evidenced by the number of phone calls and emails that we received in the following days.

Link: http://buscador.lanacion.com.ar/Nota.asp?nota_id=876614&high=micro

Agreement with Help Argentina

RADIM has given institutional support and has collaborated with the Microcredit Fund Comptetition, launched by Help Argentina.  The Fund’s objective is to support MFIs by providing money raised by online individual donors, social ambassadors, and the matching grant from the Open Society Institute in 2006 to MFIs so that they can enlarge their loan portfolios and improve their professionalism, in turn enabling them to reach a size that is sufficient for gaining access to new sources of funding that would facilitate additional growth.

The Microcredit Fund was launched in November 2005 and has USD 28,000 to award to a maximum of five MFIs.  The MFIs who have benefited up until now have been:
In first place, the NGO Chain Action (Acción en Cadena) from the province of Formosa.  They will receive USD 16,000 for their project entitled “The Community Bank of the Poor in Las Lomitas, Formosa” (Banco Comunal de los Pobres en Las Lomitas, Formosa). 
Additionally, the Enterprise Center of Famaillá (Centro de Empresarios de Famaillá) in the province of Tucumán and RADIM partner Progress Foundation (Fundación Progresar) will receive USD 6,000 each to develop their projects.

More information: http://www.helpargentina.org

In December 2006, the Constitution of RADIM was signed.  The procedure to enroll RADIM as a civil association under the Inspección General de Justicia was also started.

The Document was signed by all founding partners on Wednesday, December 20, 2006 in the Beccar Varela studio.  The enrollment procedure was started on Thursday, December 28, 2006.

The President of Etimos visits Argentina

During the second week of February, the president of the Etimos Consortium, Mr. Marco Santori, visited Argentina.  The goal of his visit was to tighten the relationship between his partners and the national microfinance market of Argentina, as well as present the coming inauguration of the new Etimos Southern Cone branch.

In meetings held with RADIM, a series of joint projects that could occur over the course of the next few months were analyzed.

On Tuesday, February 13, an act was signed that will provide subsidies to diverse MFIs under a law promoting microcredit.  As acknowledged by the law, the objective of said subsidies is to facilitate funding for MFIs so that they will be able to double their loan portfolio and finance 30% of their operating expenses.  The President, Nestor Kirchner, the Minister of Social Development, Alicia Kirchner, the Vice Minister of Social Development, Daniel Arroyo, and other authorities were present for the signing of the act.

Six of RADIM’s partner institutions have presented their proposals to become beneficiaries of this fund.  They hope to add their efforts to the search for positive impact that is inherent in the new public policy. 

Participation in CEF Seminar

On Wednesday, March 14, the Center for Financial Stability organized a seminar on Microfinance in Argentina, and invited RADIM to participate as an exhibitor.  CEF, an independent think tank dedicated to the analysis and discussion of services and financial policy, has an integral strategic vision.

In this opportunity, CEF organized a seminar on microfinance with the hopes of spreading the word about its modality, the importance of the instrument, and the restrictions that are faced in Argentina.

During the event, different actors from the sector—among them, Marta Beckerman (Avanzar), Gregorio Goity (Columbia Bank), Christian Sinobas (Planet Finance), and the Vice Minister of Social Development, Mr. Daniel Stream—discussed the different aspects of microfinance, their visions, and their individual work.  Also, the President of RADIM, Raul Zavalía, made a presentation that covered the activities of the Network, the potential of the sector, its main opportunities and challenges.

Meeting with Red Solidarios – Consejo de Fundaciones Americanas de Desarrollo

On Friday, March 23, RADIM participated in a meeting with representatives from the Council of American Development Foundations (Consejo de Fundaciones Americanas de Desarrollo)–SOLIDARIOS.  They were visiting the country to promote the plan of action that they have been developing in the region for more than 30 years.

The Council of American Development Foundations is an association of private organizations that has a central objective of the development of low income groups in the countries host of its members in Latin America and the Caribbean.

SOLIDARIOS works to be a significant actor in the development of Latin America, collectively elaborating a proposal of social promotion based on the a number of diverse, successful experiences its member institutions.  They constitute a support base for the different actors—public and private, national and international—interested in the development of the region.

The meeting successfully enabled the mutual presentation of the two organizations, the exploration of possible joint projects, and general interchange.

 For further information : www.redsolidarios.org

The Boulder Microfinance Seminar took place in Santiago de Chile from March 5 – 16.  The Seminar is world-renown, but has never before been given in Spanish.  The Boulder Institute of Microfinance is a non-profit organization founded in Boulder, Colorado, USA.  Its goal is to create a platform for debate, analysis, and creativity for the microfinance sector, as well as provide instruments that aid in the development of MFIs through the creation of policy and sources of support for the new industry.

Representatives of all the partners of the Network as well as two members of the Staff participated in this event, along with 75 members of institutions related to microfinance from more than 20 countries in the region, Europe, and the United States.
 
During the training they had the opportunity to group themselves in an array of areas that are strategic for microfinance, including governance, cost analysis, microcredit operations, microfinances plus, risk analysis, microinsurance, etc. Participants also had the chance to analyze and predict what the main tendencies of the sector in Latin America will be during the next few years.

In addition to hosting the course, the Ford Foundation organized two sub-meetings in which two participants had the opportunity to present/display their projects for the Finance for Development Program and the Economic Security Program. These were: "Hope Fund: An Innovative Proposal for Microfinance in Chile” and “Strategic Alliances in Rural Finance: The Experiences of FINDER, Peru, and Seed, Colombia.”

Regional Course from the International Development Law Organization

Between February 26 and March 9, RADIM trustees Drs. Roberto Crouzel and Tomás Allende from Beccar Varela Studio, participated in a regional course entitled “Microfinance: Towards a Financially Inclusive System.”  The course was offered by the International Development Law Organization in partnership with the Organización Internacional de Derecho para el Desarrollo-IDLO and the API-Ecuador Corporation, with sponsorship from the OMIDYAR Foundation. 

Held in Quito, Ecuador, some of the themes analyzed by the seminar included commercialization, financial analysis, legal aspects, rules, contracts, and judicial matters.

Participation in Risk Management in Microfinance Workshop

From January 24-26, a workshop on training for trainers was held in Antigua Guatemala, Guatemala.  The workshop was organized and promoted by Latin American Microfinance Training Project (Proyecto Latinoamericano de Capacitación en Microfinanzas, or PROCAMIF), with cooperation from GTZ-PROMOCAP of Guatemala.
PROCAMIF granted ten scholarships, including one to RADIM, which is the reason that RADIM requested that its MFI partners nominate representatives to participate in the Workshop.  Marta Bonibardo of the World Bank of Woman (Banco Mundial de la Mujer), Córdoba was selected. Some of the countries with representatives present included Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Ecuador, Peru, and Brazil.

The course was dictated by Reynaldo Yujra Segales, professor in the Center the International of Support to the Financial Innovations (Centro Internacional de Apoyo a las Innovaciones Financieras, or AFIN).  He provided course contents on the supervision and regulation of microfinance activities, the central Committee of Basel and its roll in international the financial system, and risk management concepts.

With the culmination of the course, the scholarship recipients promised that they would produce two replications of the course for other members of their networks by the end of 2007.