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The MicroFinance Network Annual Conference for 2007 will be held in Marrakech, Morocco, from November 8th to 10th. Please note that the conference will be open only to the members of the MicroFinance Network.
Summary of Annual Conference 2006
The 2006 annual conference, "Finding Equilibrium as MFIs Grow and Evolve: Balancing Financial and Social Objectives," was held from September 18 to 20, 2006, at the Melia White House Hotel in London, UK. Citigroup Microfinance Group, a UK-based MFN member, assisted with logistics and hosted dinners for conference participants. 43 participants including 6 special invited guests attended the conference, representing 29 member institutions.
Conference sessions were divided into three blocks: Part I "Managing Institutional Growth and Evolution," Part II "Balancing Financial and Social Objectives as MFIs Grow and Evolve," and Part III "In Search of Further Growth."
In Part I, we heard from BRAC, First Microfinance Bank of Pakistan and Compartamos, what kind of challenges they have faced as their institutions have grown and evolved, and how they have confronted these challenges. Many of the panelists and participants mentioned staff management (training, staff retention), leadership management, funding, and competition as the main challenges that they have faced. It was also mentioned that the use of correct technology is a must for MFIs to grow. There was an interesting question raised regarding an optimal growth rate for MFIs, to which some answered that current growth is not fast enough while some others thought they have to be careful with rapid growth. As a way forward, some participants commented that we need to do things differently to keep growing, including changing the current business models.
In Part II, we took a closer look at the social objective of MFIs: how can we ensure high social performance of MFIs? The MFN members agreed in 2005 general assembly annual meeting that the new focus of the MFN will be how to balance the double bottom line values, i.e. financial and social objectives. This part of the annual conference aimed to deal with the issues directly related to this new focus, by informing the participants with the latest discussions on social ratings, as well as by presenting the preliminary results of a recent study conducted by the Staff Incentives Working Group on the use of staff incentives for balancing financial and social performance. The participants, while recognizing the importance of social ratings by an independent party, expressed their concerns about the needs to set up a standardized set of social indicators that is accessible at a lower cost.
Part III "In Search of Further Growth"addressed some of the push/pull factors for future growth: political risks that can obstruct MFI's further growth; and different financing schemes which are needed for further growth. At the session on political risks, Sogesol, BancoSol and SKS shared their experiences and strategies in face of current and potential unfavorable political environment. As a way of preventing and overcoming such challenging situations, the panelists and many participants have stressed the importance of open dialogue with key individuals or groups involved, such as politicians, media, clients and own staff. At the session on financing for growth, Alex Silva from Calmeadow presented the pros and cons of equity financing and debt financing. Panelist presentations looked at the pros and cons of difference financing schemes through the experiences of PRODEM, Equity Bank (in particular, on their recent listing in the local stock exchange market) and BRAC (in particular, on their recent securitization experience; the presentation was made by Robert Annibale from Citigroup).
The Conference concluded with a half-day joint meeting with the Council of Microfinance Equity Funds (CMEF), a group of equity investors. The joint meeting aimed to provide an opportunity for MFN members to understand better the investors' point of view. In particular, we had presentations by CMEF members on the growth trend of MIVs (microfinance investment vehicles) and valuation methodologies of MFI equity investment. In exchange, the MFN members (UMU, Banco Ademi, SKS and Compartamos) presented their experiences in change of ownership; how the ownership change has affected the MFI, for example, on its mission, decision making process, institutional image, and self-confidence.
MFN Annual Conference of Past Years
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2006, United Kingdom, Finding Equilibrium as MFIs Grow and Evolve: Balancing Financial and Social Objectives
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2005, Bolivia, Microfinance Risk Management: Reducing Risks for MFIs and Clients
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2004, Tanzania, Microfinance on the Cutting Edge
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2003, Indonesia, Microfinance Clients, Products, Services and Market Niches
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2002, Poland, Facilitating Growth of MFIs in Competitive Markets: Strategic Partnerships and Alliances; Customer Orientation; Regulation and Supervision; Transparency and Standardization
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2001, USA, Challenges to Microfinance Commercialization
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1999, Bangladesh, Microfinance in the New Millennium: Efficiency, Customer Satisfaction and Commercialization
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1998, USA, Effective Governance of Microfinance Institutions
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1997, Egypt, Moving Microfinance Forward: Ownership, Competition and Control
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1996, Canada, Establishing a Microfinance Industry: Governance, Best Practices, Access to Capital Markets
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1995, Philippines, Key Issues in Microfinance: Supervision and Regulation, Financing Sources, Expansion of Microfinance Institutions
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Activities 
