Capacity Building and Promotion of Investment Opportunities for South Asian MFIs

For a period of 14 months, this project will aim at the implementation of Phase II of the South Asian Microfinance Network (SAMN), during which the sustainability of the network will be pursued, funded by HIVOS. The objectives of Phase II of SAMN are to establish itself as an effective and sustainable mechanism to promote development and investment in its member Microfinance Institutions (MFI), to expand the network to up to a targeted 26 MFIs and establish links to Bangladeshi Microfinance sectors and to improve SAMN’s institutional and financial sustainability. The activities implemented during Phase II are the promotion of customized development inputs to the MFIs, the facilitation of investment into MFIs, the promotion of the sustainability and visibility of SAMN and the planning of the funding for the first 12 months of Phase II. SAMN promotes economic development in South Asia through the establishment of a network of coordination and cooperation between the Global/European and South Asian financial sector and the microfinance sector in South Asia. SAMN is a long-term initiative that will be developed in 3 phase; Phase III starting in 2012. The initiative is coordinated by ACTED along with national level partners, and currently groups together 18 South Asian Tier-II MFIs, representing a total of over 500,000 clients and 56 Million Euros of outstanding loan portfolio.