With the shared mission of sustainable development and financial inclusion through developing capacities of microfinance institutions, the Ateneo De Manila University and BPI Globe BanKO inked another milestone to its partnership. The renewal of partnership between these two institutions hopes to extend further capacity building assistance and services to microfinance institutions in the country.
ADMU and BPI Globe BanKO Through the Years
The partnership between ADMU and BPI Globe BanKO started in 2007 during which one of the primary concerns of in terms of sustainability of microfinance operations is the lack of capacity building. “Back then, microfinance institutions need more than money for capital. They need to build their capacity in order to reach sustainability”, said Mariel Vincent Rapisura, Program Manager of the ADMU Microfinance Capacity Building Program. This idea became central to the establishment of the first partnership between ADMU and BPI Globe BanKO. The joint initiative aims to equip microfinance institutions – rural banks, cooperatives, non-government organizations – with relevant knowledge, skills and tools that will help them strengthen and boost their microfinance operation. It delivers research-based capacity building services to participants which allow them to identify practical points that can readily be applied to their respective institutions.
From an initial 6 training courses, the ptogram’s number of courses expanded to 35. These include core courses on fundamentals and methodologies of microfinance, market-based product design and development, delinquency management and financial analysis. To date, a total of 89 training events have been delivered to more than 1,800 participants from 279 microfinance institutions all over the Philippines. This translates to an outreach of at least 2 million microfinance clients. The training courses have also attracted participants from Asia particularly Indonesia, Singapore and Cambodia.
Establishment of Training Hubs
The rise in the demand for affordable training prompted the program to develop an innovative strategy that could address the issue. Mr. Rapisura said “If training events are conducted in Manila, other expenses far exceed the registration fee for the training. This makes institutions hesitant to send their staff. In order to address this, strategic partnerships with microfinance institutions are formed to localize the delivery of training”. Through the establishment of training hubs, training courses are made more accessible to microfinance practitioners especially those outside Metro Manila. This strategy allowed for wider geographical coverage of the training. Current training hubs include Alalay sa Kaunlaran Inc. (ASKI) in Central Luzon, Nueva Segovia Consortium of Cooperatives (NSCC) in Northern Luzon, Community Rural Bank of Catmon (CRBC) in Cebu, Negros Women for Tomorrow Foundation (NWTF) in Western Visayas, Metro Ormoc Community Cooperative (OCCCI) and Eastern Visayas Cooperative Federation (EVCF) in Leyte and Kasagana-Ka Development Center Inc. (KDCI) in Metro Manila.
Way forward
The Philippines has a relatively mature microfinance industry. The track record of the partnership, however, showed that as the landscape of industry shifted so has the challenges. Institutional capacity therefore must continuously be able to adapt to these changes. Mr. Rapisura added further that “capacity building is a loop. As a facilitator of the process, we commit ourselves to innovation to ensure that the partnership bears fruitful results”. These include identification of strategic training hub locations; development of new modules; and direct technical assistance to microfinance institutions.
ADMU and BPI Globe BanKO shall relentlessly provide quality capacity building to microfinance institutions in order to safeguard achievement of the common goal.