15TH ANNUAL GLOBAL MICROFINANCE FORUM

14-15 March 2019

Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Summary

Microfinance is constantly facing significant changes: microfinance products are being developed and modified by MFIs; more and more traditional financial institutions, banks, fintech and other organizations, such as credit unions, guarantee funds and mobile operators are getting involved in microfinance; national authorities are developing and tightening up regulations in order to facilitate and speed up further financial sector development.

Uniglobal’s 15th Annual Global Microfinance Forum will cover a wide range of topics that make this forum appealing to MFIs, investors and other industry players from all over the world. It will bring on board a unique network of experts and senior level speakers who will share their experiences and perspectives on current and future trends and challenges in microfinance despite the difficult economic climate and ongoing changes in regulations. During multiple networking sessions the participants will discuss transformation of the industry, financial inclusion, social and environmental impact investment, microinsurance, agri-finance and green finance, challenges in corporate governance of MFIs, risk management and many other hot topics.

DAY 1
  • PANEL DISCUSSION: Investing into MFI today. Making decision and evaluating prospects
  • GUIDED AUDIENCE DISCUSSION: Doing business in different markets
  • Digitalization: Key benefits for MFIs and investors
  • FOCUS DISCUSSION: Effectively managing FX risks while getting funding
  • Loans and equity investments through crowdfunding
  • PANEL DISCUSSION: Achieving financial returns and social impact
  • Prospects and challenges in agri-finance development
  • Green inclusive finance: Defining and implementing the environmental strategy
  • FOCUS DISCUSSION: Evolution of microfinance services
  • Microinsurance: Making insurance accessible to microclients
  • INTERACTIVE SPOTLIGHT SESSION: MFIs meet INVESTORS
DAY 1
DAY 2
TRAINING SESSION: HOW TO LEAD TRANSFORMATION IN A RAPIDLY CHANGING BUSINESS LANDSCAPE
  • PANEL DISCUSSION: Expanding financial inclusion
  • Digital finance and financial inclusion
  • Fostering financial inclusion of MSMEs
  • Empowering female entrepreneurs through financial inclusion
  • Financial inclusion of refugees: a high-risk group or an ideal microfinance client?
  • PANEL DISCUSSION: Islamic microfinance
  • FOCUS DISCUSSION: Challenges of corporate governance in MFIs
  • Effective risk management in MFIs: Why important?
  • Contributing to MFI’s success through effective HR management
DAY 2

PHOTOS

from previous event

Asia Pacific Microfinance Forum

Speakers

Thomas Steiger

Chief Executive Officer

ACTIAM, The Netherlands

Huib-Jan de Ruijter

Director Financial Institutions

FMO, The Netherlands

Wim van der Beek

Founder and Managing Partner

Goodwell Investments, The Netherlands

Henry Russell

Director, Financial Institutions

EBRD, UK

Markus Aschendorf

Head of Division / Financial System and Economic

KfW, Germany

Guillermo Salcedo

Deputy Director Credit

Oikocredit, The Netherlands

Dirk Elsen

Director, Emerging Markets

Triodos Investment Management, The Netherlands

Roy Budjhawan

Head ING Impact Finance

ING Bank, The Netherlands

Jonas Enrico Luini

Associate, Structuring

TCX, The Netherlands

Tatia Jajanashvili

CFO

Micro Business Capital, Georgia

Cristina Dumitrescu

Senior Investment Manager – Inclusive Finance

European Investment Fund, Luxembourg

Chuck Olson

COO

Frontera Capital, Switzerland

Paloma Perez Castañares

Microinsurance Specialist

BBVA Microfinance Foundation, Spain

Kate Hallam

Investment Manager

CDC Group, UK

Jessica Schicks

Investment Officer

Frontera Capital, Switzerland

Cameron Goldie-Scot

CEO

Musoni, The Netherlands

Florian Ott

Social Banking Development Manager

Erste Group Bank AG, Austria

Davide Loriggiola

Investment Officer

Triple Jump, The Netherlands

Jean-Marc Debricon

General Manager

Alterfin, Belgium

Stefan Martiniak

CEO

First MicroFinance Company, Kyrgyzstan

Davide Loriggiola

Lars Saquero Møller

Agroclimatica, Denmark

Debbie Watkins

Managing Director, APMEA

Fern Software, Singapore

Emilio Santandreu

CEO

OUR MicroLending LLC, USA

Rahul J. Mittra

Managing Director & CEO

Margdarshak, India

Debbie Watkins

Managing Director

SPTF Europe

Former Director Risk & Social Performance

Foundation Grameen Credit Agricole

Dr. Barbara Drexler

Associate Dean of International Affairs & Lecturer

Frankfurt School of Finance & Management, Germany

Arturo Liguori

Member of the Board

Galileo Network S.p.A., Italy

Samir Shah

Advisor

Margdarshak, India

Akihisa Shirasaka

Manager

Crowd Credit, Inc., Japan

Günther Berger

CEO

Creditec, South Africa

Makoto Ujike

Manager

Crowd Credit, Inc., Japan

Dr Mohammed R. Kroessin

Executive Director

GEMicro Group, UK

Béchir Yakhlef

Managing Director

UniQ Soft Technology, Switzerland

Sponsors/Partners

SUPPORTED BY

Testimonials

“Benefited from all the sessions. Good exposure particularly on the new developments in microfinance”
— Manager, Central Bank of Malaysia, Malaysia

“Main was a very positive experience with Uniglobal. Well informed prior the conference and well organized during the conference. Thank you for your support as a speaker. Looking forward to meeting in another interesting conference soon”
— Programme Manager, Frankfurt School of Finance and Management, Germany

“It has been a pleasure and I really hope to keep this nice cooperation in the future”.
— Founder & Chairman, Mikro Kapital, Luxembourg

“The overall experience is amazing”
— CEO, Bosak Microfinance Bank Limited, Nigeria

“I am pleased to have added value to the conference. There were interesting presentations, conversations and I had the opportunity to make some promising contacts. Thank you for organizing the conference and giving Swisscontact the opportunity to be part of it”.
— Regional Director – Central, East and Southern Africa Program, Swisscontact, Kenya

“Thank you so much! I could not have asked for a more cooperative team than yours. I hope we continue our association in the future! It was a pleasure to speak to your audience”.
— Head of Business Development & External Relations, Community Support Concern, Pakistan

“Very helpful for MFI practices (meeting and learning from other MFIs and investors is helpful and very worthy)”
— HR & Admin Director, Alalay sa Kaunlaran (ASKI), Inc., Philippines

“Very good. The organizers are great! I liked the way the conference was managed.
Different stakeholders and active participation of both speakers and audience”
— Head of Impact Assessment, BBVA Microfinance Foundation, Spain

“Very interactive and interesting”
— Manager, Doverie Finance, Bulgaria

Why Should Experts Attend Our Event?

  • Understand the specificity of investment landscape in 2019
  • Explore latest strategies to stay relevant
  • Know about successful cases from the industry leaders
  • Learn how to evaluate and improve company’s performance through financial / investment analysis
  • Analyze responsible practices to achieve better results
  • Discuss the developments in impact investments
  • Interact with senior-level experts sharing their knowledge and experiences
  • Discover product diversification and development potential
  • Address techniques to improve financial inclusion
  • Understand how to create competitive advantage and leverage operational capabilities
  • Know more about how to drive changes within the company effectively
  • Reveal the potential / challenges of each region represented
  •  

Where and When?

Mercure Hotel Amsterdam City
Joan Muyskenweg 10, 1096 CJ Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Tel. reservation: +31 20 717 95 28

Travel Insurance

When you travel to a conference it’s important that you’re protected from the unexpected, that is why we are pleased to introduce you to Voyager Insurance as our appointed travel insurance partner for Uni Global delegates.

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