AEMFI

The African Microfinance Conference has been regularly conducted every two years. The conferences in South Africa, Uganda and Burkinafaso were successful in attracting huge and diverse participants. More than 500 participants attended in the Burkinafaso conference. The increase in the number of participants each year reveals the importance and the value addition of the conference in the development of inclusive finance in Africa. It was in the last conference 2009, in Ouagadougou, that Ethiopia volunteered to host the 2011 event in Addis Ababa.

The theme of the 2011 conference, “ The Future of Inclusive Finance in Africa “ is a real and forward looking theme. According to ACCION International. Inclusive finance is about all people who can access and use quality financial services at affordable price, in a convenient manner and with dignity for the clients. It means carefully considering the needs of different categories of clients, encourages participation of variety of actors in the sector. It is about democratizing the benefits of financial services and generating economic citizenship. Inclusive finance is an innovative approach and considers rural-urban dimension but also considers certain segments of society like disabled people. Inclusive finance has become a timely issue drawing the attention of the practitioners and development partners but also other stakeholders. The G-20 has launched Financial Inclusion Expert Group; the UN is also interested in this issue and has appointed the Princess Maxima of the Netherlands as its Special Advocate. Papers are being published and conferences are held around the world on these issues. Africa needs to debate on this issue and clarify its position.

The organization of this conference in Addis Ababa is the result of a joint effort by a range of institutions, led by the AEMFI, and MAIN where the two networks have joined hands to bring the issue of inclusive finance on the top of the agenda of governments and donors in Africa. The organizers know that you are pioneering financial market development initiatives and the expansion of inclusive finance to the excluded population. We believe that your organization is one of the key players in the campaign for inclusive finance.

The conference is expected to bring together at least 600 participants from Africa and the rest of the world including microfinance practitioners, regional and national networks, external partners, researchers, academia, policy makers, bilateral/multilateral development/donor agencies, UN agencies, regional development/financial agencies, etc.

This is to request you to sponsor this conference. Sponsoring this unique conference will give you an opportunity to promote the activities of your organization. To this end, the conference will provide appropriate exposure at the conference hall, in the conference publications and the website of the conference. Depending on the level of sponsorship, we will also waive the registration costs of a specific number of your delegates at the conference. A number of sponsorship options are available to allow you to select the level of participation most suitable.