Working together on
microfinance and microinsurance
microfinance and microinsurance
Through the Microfact project, BRS and ADA daily assist microfinancing institutions and microinsurance institutions in Africa and Latin America in their financial and social activities. Microfact offers them free tools and training modules to implement their operational and strategic decisions. During their presence at African Microfinance Week in Dakar, Kurt, Piet and Jarek noted a great interest in Microfact’s services.
The many new contacts they made there will certainly bear fruit in the future. They therefore hope that the new version of the BCEAO Fact sheet, designed in association with the Central Bank of West African States and presented at the Innovation Fair, will become the standard for analysing and communicating financial results in eight African countries.
When Ousmane was a little boy, he helped his grandfather design and produce the jewellery. A few years ago, the grandfather gifted his small business to Ousmane, who expanded the range and was given permission by the local hotel to display and sell his jewellery in the hotel lobby. Kurt, Piet and Jarek could hardly believe their eyes when they found custom-made teeth among the jewellery! Fortunately, none of them needed new teeth, as Ousmane was ready to give his Belgian customers preferential treatment.
What’s so special about this poor craftsman’s story is that he had never applied for a microcredit. On the one hand, because he was refused when he asked for a loan at a large bank, on the other because he did not know about the local microfinancing institutions. But fortunately BRS was on hand to rectify this and help him climb out of poverty.
