Advocacy activities
Since the start of the outbreak, the association has carried out advocacy activities mentioning the problems faced by MFIs to relevant stakeholders. As a result, the National Bank of Ethiopia notified the ‘Development Bank of Ethiopia’ to avail credit for COVID-19 pandemic impacted Microfinance Institutions and Consumer Cooperatives to the extent of ETB 2 Billion from 2019/20 allocated loan budget of DBE with a concessional interest rate of 7% per annum. NBE has also relaxed some prudential requirements to MFIs as a response to COVID-19 pandemic. Member MFIs have contributed significant resources both in cash and in kind to the task forces established at various levels in order to support the people affected by the pandemic.
Facilitate the Certification Program in collaboration with Enterprise Partners (EP)
After certifying Technical Service Providers, AEMFI developed the TSPs database on its website in which certified TSPs profile has been posted. Business to Business linkage program between certified TSPs and MFIs has been organized in collaboration with the partners in order to complement demand cultivation work of certified TSPs. Most of the certified TSPs have participated in providing training to the MFIs in the linkage program. The trainings provided include: IFRS, Customer Handling, Strategy and Business Modeling, Product Development and Saving Mobilization, Financial Inclusion and basics of Microfinance; Microfinance Services in Ethiopia. In addition to this, mentoring and on job training program including handout preparation on IFRS has been done.
