5th International Conference on Institutional and Technological Environment for Microfinance - ITEM 5
18, 19 & 20 March 2014, Casablanca, Morocco
Microfinance – fighting back
The 5th International Conference on Institutional and Technological Environment for Microfinance (ITEM 5) will be organized by
the Banque Populaire Chair in Microfinance of the Burgundy School of Business
and
ISCAE, Casablanca, Morocco
In collaboration with
Attawfiq Micro Finance « Fondation Banque Populaire pour le MicroCrédit »
The voices of those that criticize microfinance are increasing in intensity and in frequency. Are these justified or they just benefit from people’s thirst for shocking new? At the same time, Prof Mohammad Yunus has been awarded the Congressional Gold Medal in the USA. It is a time for people to separate the noise from the information and for us to get back to focus on the basics of providing financial services to the poor and excluded.
On the one hand, empowering of women and persons with low incomes is a strong positive externality which remains under-researched in spite of the efforts done so far. Trust, financial literacy, ability to contract, are all built through microfinance and can have positive influences for the rest of the person’s life, and even beyond, affecting the lives of the descendants that may stay in school longer or may inherit a good business.
On the other hand, with competition increasing in increasingly saturated markets, we are witnessing two effects: one of an expected decrease in interest rates, and one of an increase in indebtedness as people borrow from many lenders. The latter comes from the “irresistible” character of a microloan that makes people borrow even if they don’t need it or don’t have the capacity to repay. Is microfinance the victim of its own success?
Our 5th research conference on the Institutional and Technological Environment for Microfinance will focus on the how microfinance recovers from its own image crisis. It is not simply circumstantial that the conference is being held in Morocco. Indeed, Morocco is a curious place for microfinance. In 2007, four of the top fifty in the Forbes global ranking of microfinance institutions came from Morocco. Then a couple of years later, the fourth (Zakouria) went into bankruptcy and had to be merged into the third (Fondation Banque Populaire) to recoverA lot is happening in Morocco. A field visit is being organized on the 18th of March, 2014 to set the ambiance for the discussions.
The ITEM 5 conference will gather academics and practitioners working on financial inclusion in developed and developing countries.
the Banque Populaire Chair in Microfinance of the Burgundy School of Business
and
ISCAE, Casablanca, Morocco
In collaboration with
Attawfiq Micro Finance « Fondation Banque Populaire pour le MicroCrédit »
The voices of those that criticize microfinance are increasing in intensity and in frequency. Are these justified or they just benefit from people’s thirst for shocking new? At the same time, Prof Mohammad Yunus has been awarded the Congressional Gold Medal in the USA. It is a time for people to separate the noise from the information and for us to get back to focus on the basics of providing financial services to the poor and excluded.
On the one hand, empowering of women and persons with low incomes is a strong positive externality which remains under-researched in spite of the efforts done so far. Trust, financial literacy, ability to contract, are all built through microfinance and can have positive influences for the rest of the person’s life, and even beyond, affecting the lives of the descendants that may stay in school longer or may inherit a good business.
On the other hand, with competition increasing in increasingly saturated markets, we are witnessing two effects: one of an expected decrease in interest rates, and one of an increase in indebtedness as people borrow from many lenders. The latter comes from the “irresistible” character of a microloan that makes people borrow even if they don’t need it or don’t have the capacity to repay. Is microfinance the victim of its own success?
Our 5th research conference on the Institutional and Technological Environment for Microfinance will focus on the how microfinance recovers from its own image crisis. It is not simply circumstantial that the conference is being held in Morocco. Indeed, Morocco is a curious place for microfinance. In 2007, four of the top fifty in the Forbes global ranking of microfinance institutions came from Morocco. Then a couple of years later, the fourth (Zakouria) went into bankruptcy and had to be merged into the third (Fondation Banque Populaire) to recoverA lot is happening in Morocco. A field visit is being organized on the 18th of March, 2014 to set the ambiance for the discussions.
The ITEM 5 conference will gather academics and practitioners working on financial inclusion in developed and developing countries.