Five years of existence, five years of financial services offered to financial institutions, the FPM SA, Fund for Financial Inclusion in DR Congo through the refinancing of financial institutions whose main target is MSMEs, organized last September 27, two events including a workshop on the promotion of financial inclusion in DR Congo and a dinner party. In the morning, two highlights marked the workshop, namely the panel on “Financial inclusion in DR Congo, 10 years later: Macroeconomic overview and social impact” led by the technical advisor of FPM SA (Incofin IM), IFC (SFI), the Central Bank of Congo, ANIMF (National Association of Microfinance Institutions in the DRC), the ACB (Congolese Association of Banks) and the technical assistance vehicle of FPM namely, FPM ASBL. The second panel focused on the theme of “Refinancing Micros, Small and Medium Enterprises: 5 years of FPM SA, Balance Sheet and Outlook“. Three financial institutions were invited as panelists: Equity Bank, Afriland Bank and SMICO SA; the Ministry of SMEs represented by the CEO of OPEC, as well as FPM SA, the organizer. The Managing Director of FPM SA was the first to speak for his words of circumstance in the presence of the representative of the Minister of SMEs, the Vice-Governor of the Central Bank of Congo, the President of the Board of Directors of FPM SA, representatives of the donors and the Directors General of different financial institutions operating in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. From the outset, the CEO of FPM SA recalled the mission of FPM: “FPM is a multi-donor fund with the ultimate goal of reducing poverty and improving the living conditions of the people in DR Congo. To do this, it aims to support the construction and development of an inclusive and accountable financial system. ” He presented the highlights of FPM since 2010 to date and the motivations that drove German cooperation / KfW, Cordaid, Bio and INCOFIN CVSO to set up this refinancing vehicle in 2014. Based on a share capital of 20 000 USD to its creation, FPM SA to date has 36 million USD of commitments and 23.4 million USD of registered capital. In a review of its activities, the CEO said that since...
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As part of the 9th edition of the Forum Access to Finance, FPM ASBL organized on October 08 and 09 a mini-forum in the cities of Kikwit and Mbuji-Mayi with the theme “Ensuring the proper functioning of my business“. Organized mainly with the objective of creating real contact between supply (banks and microfinance) and demand (MSMEs) actors for financial products and services in a different context, this forum was attended by several entrepreneurs from the cities mentioned and very enriching and captivating themes were addressed, in particular: the difficulties of access to financial services: traditional and innovative solutions; the state of mind of an entrepreneur; the National Financial Education Program (PNEF). For this 9th edition, the FPM ASBL aimed essentially at boosting entrepreneurs to take charge of themselves and especially to continuously develop a state of mind of entrepreneurship because: “An entrepreneur is a person who knows how to scrutinize the market and seize opportunities”. Several topics were discussed including the status of entrepreneur, the process of creation and management of a company and of course the spirit of entrepreneurship. Key messages on communication personal motivation; the Delegation; anticipation; the organization; decision making and control were part of the forum’s presentation. Financial education was once again highlighted at this forum to remind the entrepreneur to save in approved financial institutions, recognized and viable to avoid losses of money due to misguided savings. The entrepreneurs present took advantage of this opportunity to ask several questions, among others: What should an entrepreneur do before embarking on any activity? Do you necessarily have to have a lot of resources before starting an activity? What are the official documents that an economic operator must gather in order to function properly? What strategy is put in place by financial institutions to promote their products and services; and communicate with Entrepreneurs? How can you use a loan from a financial institution, negotiate a loan and pay it well? The forum started at 09:00 and ended at 14:00 with a cocktail in both...
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As part of the Global Week of money held from 25 to 30 March 2019, FPM, for financial inclusion in DRC organized for the third consecutive year a series of activities, namely: a press conference and a forum, dated March 30, 2019, in the city province of Kinshasa and precisely Mbakana, peripheral locality of the city. The DNS Congo Normal School was the site chosen to host the Forum this year. The goal was to educate young people about financial literacy. The theme this year was: “Learn – Save – Earn“. The Forum was attended six (6) schools, each represented by 30 students whose age range between 14 and 25 years. These were the schools surrounding the city of Mbakana namely the Normal DNS Congo Institute, the school of the Protestant community of Kinshasa in Mbakana (CPK), the school of the Congo Baptist Community in Mbakana (CBCO), the Lufimi Technical Training Institute (ITP Lufimi), the Mbakana Agricultural Technical Professional Institute (ITPA) and the Mbakana Kimbanguist School. Three sub-themes were discussed by experts at the event are: “Importance of Money and Roles of Financial Institutions“. “New Paradigm of Savings and Tools for Saving” “Operation of the remote banking and its effectiveness“. After the presentations, a question and answer session was held, followed by a quiz where students were asked about the topics covered. Of the six schools, two schools were highly rewarded and received a trophy and certificate of excellence on behalf of the FPM. The other four schools are distributed with certificates of participation. As a reminder, World Money Week is a global event, created since 2012, under the initiative of Child & Youth Finance International “CYFI”, which works on the restructuring of financial systems to empower economically and socially children and young people around the...
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FPM signed a technical assistance partnership on November 19, 2018 with Afriland First Bank CD, a subsidiary of the Cameroonian group Afriland to provide this bank with support in improving the service offer for Micro, Small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) and low-income households. Knowing the many challenges inherent in such a strategic orientation, FPM ASBL technically supports Afriland Bank in repositioning itself by integrating the MSME segment as one of the bank’s institutional development bases for the coming years. The support of FPM ASBL will essentially consist in providing the bank with its experience gained in the Congolese market with a view to developing an adequate strategy for offering services to this segment in an efficient and less risky manner, particularly in the implementation of the infrastructure, organization and tools needed to manage its customers micro, small and medium businesses. Established in the DRC since 2005, Afriland is anxious to expand its social reach in the DR Congo through the SME department to contribute to both the socio-economic development of the country but also to diversify its business portfolio. As a reminder, FPM, Fund for Financial Inclusion in DR Congo is a fund that contributes to the reduction of poverty in DR Congo by promoting the development of a sustainable offer of financial services accessible to Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises ( MSME) and low-income populations. To achieve this, FPM relies on financial institutions to provide technical assistance and financing. Technical assistance services include the following: – Direct technical assistance (for the benefit of partner financial institutions); – Forums and training for Congolese financial market professionals; – Market studies to improve financial inclusion. Thanks to its network of 13 agencies in DR Congo, Afriland first bank is a pan-African bank based in the DR Congo since 2005 with the aim of participating in the financing of the public and private sector through traditional banking services and specialized financial services. It is a subsidiary of Afriland Firsts Group which, for more than 25 years, has been working to “give back to the African his dignity and his pride of belonging to a great civilization and the emergence of a new class of entrepreneurs and African leaders able to take up...
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FPM, Fund for Financial Inclusion in DR Congo has organized last Friday, March 15, 2019 in its enclosure, the signing ceremony of the partnership agreement with the microfinance institution VisionFund DR Congo, a subsidiary of the VisionFund Group International. As part of its mission, which is part of the national microfinance policy and strategy in the Democratic Republic of Congo, FPM contributes to the reduction of poverty in the DR Congo by promoting the development of a sustainable offer of financial services accessible to Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) and low-income populations. To achieve this, FPM relies on financial institutions to provide technical assistance and financing. Technical assistance services include the following: – Direct technical assistance for the benefit of partner financial institutions; – Forums and training for Congolese financial market professionals; – Market studies to improve financial inclusion. For this first partnership, the intervention of FPM ASBL aims essentially to support VisionFund DR Congo in its phase of institutional growth after a period of institutional restructuring initiated in September in 2016. To do this, the support of FPM will cover three aspects: (1) Support for regional extension process in South Ubangi province, (2) Development of the banking agent network in that province, and also (3) Implementation of responsible finance standards. The overall budget for this intervention is around 335,000 USD. VisionFund RD Congo has been operating in the DR Congo since August 2016. This institution, which is aware of its social role, mainly supports low-income populations in rural areas of the city of Kinshasa. Thanks to these loans for income-generating activities, VisionFund increases the economic activity of its customers and thus contributes to improving the conditions of the communities. The institution currently has 7 agencies in the city of Kinshasa. Its financing targets productive sectors with high added value: agriculture. The institution plans to open two branches in two provinces other provinces over the next two...
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FPM, Fund for financial inclusion in DR Congo organized last December in Kinshasa, the signing ceremony of the partnership agreement with Equity Bank Congo SA. As part of its mission, which is part of the national strategy of microfinance to improve financial inclusion in the Democratic Republic of Congo, FPM contributes to poverty reduction in the DRC by promoting the development of an offer sustainable financial services accessible to Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) and low-income households. It is within the framework of the direct technical assistance that FPM has been supporting Equity Bank Congo since March 2016 in the training of the staff and especially the capacity building of the agribusiness, facilitating the offer of the financial services in favor of the chains of agricultural values. With the support of FPM, Equity Bank Congo, which is a growing bank, is expanding its offer to the agricultural sector, a sector with very high potential and strategic development of the country. The agricultural sector is very often left to development projects and NGOs and receives little attention from the country’s banks and financial institutions, due to the nature of the risks and infrastructure challenges that the DRC presents. The support of FPM ASBL since 2016 has boosted the development of Equity Bank Congo’s activities in this important sector. For this new partnership, the intervention of FPM is in line with the previous one, essentially aiming at optimizing the management of staff training, with the implementation of an e-learning platform and the development of large scale of the offer of financial services in favor of the agricultural sector. In addition, this new partnership also includes support for the expansion of digital financial services, in particular the bank’s agent network. The objective is to promote access to financial services, by improving Equity’s coverage and penetration in areas not covered by physical agencies and also by enhancing the impact and quality of services offered to its customers. The overall budget for this new intervention is around USD 400,000. Equity Bank Congo SA is a subsidiary of the Equity Holdings Plc Group, which is a very dynamic group present in East Africa and the Center. The Group’s ambition is to set up in...
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