Pre-Conference Workshops: 17 October 2011

Please click on the titles to find out more about each workshop

Workshop A: MFIs: Become A Real Delivery Channel For Housing Products At The Base of The Pyramid

Workshop B: Working With The Right Partners And Adopting The Right Technologies To Deliver Access To Energy At The BoP

Workshop A: 09.00am – 12.00 

MFIs: Become A Real Delivery Channel For Housing Products At The Base of The Pyramid

As MFIs you have close access to, and relationships with, communities at the Base of the Pyramid. It is likely that many of your loans are already being used in a home improvement capacity. However, housing finance for new homes or home improvement is a whole new business and one that is significantly different from the financing of micro-entrepreneurs.

To build a quality housing loan product you will need to be able to provide new services, different processes, new funding sources and more modern operational systems. But if you get your housing strategy right, you will be able to reach out to a much larger pool of people at the base of the pyramid.

By attending this workshop you will learn:

• Where to find the financial backing to provide larger, longer term loans at lower interest rates
• What the advantages are to including housing finance within your current microfinance portfolio
• How to gain a new profitable market that is much larger than the micro-business market
• How to encourage buy in from your top levels of management to make a commitment to housing microfinance What will I take back to the office?
• Create a dedicated unit to serve the Affordable Housing Finance market
• Offer technical assistance to your housing finance customers
• Work with a diverse range of partners including commercial banks, government representatives and materials manufacturers
• Keep tight control of your costs at all times to ensure maximum return on investment

About Your Facilitator

Paul Kihiu, CEO, Select Africa

Paul Kihiu is the CEo at Select Africa. Select Africa is a retail financial services group providing credit (housing focused), investment, insurance and financial advisory products in countries across the African continent. Select Africa has established a significant operational and professional network across Africa, through which it is in the process of rolling out its strategic expansion plan.

Select is committed to double bottom line (commercial and social returns) operations by offering financial services and products to those people to whom such services have been previously inaccessible and by focusing on products that provide long-term enhancements to our clients’ lives like housing, home improvement, solar energy, water harvesting / storage and education.

Select additionally strives to achieve a triple bottom line (environmental benefits) as part of its business focus, by promoting green bui

Workshop B: 13.00 - 16.00

Working With The Right Partners And Adopting The Right Technologies To Deliver Access To Energy At The BoP

2.7 billion people in the world still rely on traditional biomass for heating and cooking and 1.4 billion don’t have access to electricity. But that doesn’t mean they don’t spend on energy. It is a problem of access and not of ability to pay.

MFIs are in a position to scale up access to energy as an intermediary in the supply chain between clients and energy providers. From solar lighting to cooking energy and productive power, this workshop will arm you with the tools you need to help scale up energy access at the base of the pyramid and to empower many of your clients. MicroEnergy International has huge expertise in helping MFIs to develop energy specific programs and will be focusing on policy, project delivery, and partnership building.

By attending this workshop you will learn:

• How to start your energy program: Familiarise yourself with the opportunities, challenges and pitfalls that will come at the beginning of your commitment to energy delivery
• Where to find initial funding as well as longer term liquidity in order to facilitate an energy program
• How to adapt and optimise energy technology for regions with poor infrastructure and low income clients
• How to empower your own clients through access to productive energy technologies and how to open up new customer groups
• How to encourage buy in from your top levels of management to make a commitment to housing microfinance What will I take back to the office?
• How to develop networks, build capacity and strengthen partnerships in the energy space
• How to identify the best technologies and reliable suppliers to work with into order to deliver a water-tight energy program
• How to tackle your current challenges in the project development of your energy program

About Your Facilitator

Noara Kebir, Managing Director, MicroEnergy International

Noara Kebir is the Managing Director and co-founder of MicroEnergy International, a company specialised in supporting microfinance institutions to develop and implement energy specific programs. In this context, MicroEnergy’s crucial role is the identification and evaluation of energy products and services regarding their eligibility for credit programs.

MicroEnergy has various activities in more than 12 countries on all continents. Noara has experience in energy engineering, microfinance and strategic business development. She has a sound technical and managerial experience in the topics of maintenance and quality assurance as she worked for many years in multiple departments at Bosch-Siemens Corporation in Germany.

She has worked for MicroEnergy International since 2001 where she has gained expertise in microfinance, enterprise development services and the implementation of quality management systems.