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UNITED NATIONS CAPITAL DEVELOPMENT FUND Microfinance |
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News | Fifteen Stock Exchanges Ring in the International Year of Microcredit Exchanges Spotlight Microfinance Clients Written and arranged by Lorena M Fernandez de Azcarate Mozambique GMA Team & Zurich Stock Exchange Coordinator The United Nations Year of Micro credit 2005 officially launched on 18November 2004. Stock exchanges in fifteen different countries conducted opening ceremonies in a global effort to support the Year and signal the importance of microfinance both as an instrument to reduce poverty in a sustainable basis and an investment opportunity for the financial sector. The coordination of these stock exchanges was largely due to the efforts of an international non-profit student entity, known as the Global Microentrepreneurship Awards (GMA). Participating Stock Exchanges included: (i) Jakarta, Indonesia; (ii) Karachi, Pakistan; (iii) Manila, Philippine; (iv) Milan, Italy; (v) Dominican Republic; (vi) London (Opportunity International's Zambian operation), UK; (vii) Nairobi, Kenya; (viii) Warsaw, Poland; (ix) NASDAQ, New York; (x) Zurich, Switzerland; (xi) Maputo, Mozambique; (xii) Mumbai, India; (xiii) Madrid, Spain; (xiv) Amsterdam, Netherlands; and (xv) Bucharest, Romania. NEW YORK, UNITED STATES On the morning of the launch, NASDAQ held an awards ceremony for the New York City Global Microentrepreneurship Award winners highlighting the partnership between large-scale finance and entrepreneurship and its smaller scale mirror image. The grand prize winner Fatimata Lonfo, who owns a hair braiding and clothing store and is an ACCION New York client, was one of the speakers at the event. Other speakers included representatives from the GMA, NASDAQ, and UNCDF. The runners up and representatives from their microfinance institutions were also present. ZURICH, SWITZERLAND The grand prize winner of the GMA Mozambique, Lize Nhaca, and her loan officer, Ernesto Rungo, were flown to Zurich by responsAbility, a Swiss platform for social investments founded by four Swiss Banks and a social venture capital fund, to present his case at the SWX Swiss Stock Exchange. Mrs. Nhaca and Mr. Rungo met with high profile representatives of the main segments of the Swiss financial market and the Swiss government. In a symbolic opening of the SWX, Mrs. Nhaca rang a traditional Swiss handcraft cow bell.The events included the participation of his Excellency Ambassador Oscar Knapp, Executive member of the SECO Board of Directors and Head of the Economic Development Cooperation Office; Dr. Pierin Vincenz, CEO of Raiffeisen-Gruppe; and Dr. Arthur Vayloyan, Head of Credit Suisse Private Banking Switzerland, among others. Mrs. Nhaca is the owner of a fishing business and access to financial services has allowed her to buy supplies needed for her business, support her extended family of sixteen members, and build a concrete house. MAPUTO, MOZAMBIQUE Antuia Roberto Maoche, second prize winner of the Mozambique GMA opened the Bolsa de Valores de Mozambique (BVM). Mrs. Maoche is a client of Hluvuku-Male Yeru and the owner of a bakery, restaurant and bookshop in rural Mozambique. The ceremony began with a welcome by Dr. Jussub Nurmamade, president of the Stock Market, followed by remarks by Leonardo Simao, Minister of Foreign Affairs and representative of President Chissano, Americo Magaia, President of SOGEX, Adrian Hadorn, Swiss Ambassador in Mozambique, and Bernardo Tembe, Director of Hluvuku-Male Yeru. After a toast to her, Mrs. Maoche energetically rang the Stock Exchange bell. A short film on Mrs. Maoche’s life was also included in the event.
Other attendees included Mr. Shri Bal Krishnan, Executive Director of the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development; Dr. Meera Burra, Assistant Country Representative for the UNDP; Mr. Shah, Trustee of Planet Finance; Dr. Dalbir Singh, Chairman and Managing Director of the Central Bank of India; and other leading financial institutions.
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BOMBAY,
INDIA In Bombay, six female microentrepreneurs from Mahila Milan, a
savings and credit group of the Mumbai-based NGO SPARC (Society for Promotion
and Area Resource Center), were invited to do the honors at 9.55 am at the Bombay
Stock Exchange (BSE). The bell ceremony was preceded by addresses from representatives
of the United Nations, BSE, SPARC and Citigroup. Mr. Sanjay Nayar, CEO of Citibank
India, had the privilege to read to the crowd United Nations Secretary-General
Kofi Annan's message on global importance of micro credit.Citigroup, Nabard,
and Planet Finance, a non-profit organization headquartered in France, supported
the BSE in this initiative. 
MADRID,
SPAIN Dóniz Leonor Zuleta, a Colombian architect that came to
Spain with her husband, William, opened the Madrid Stock Exchange. When they
first arrived to Spain, Dóniz Leonor and William worked fifteen hours
per day in construction and cleaning houses for a very low salary. With the
financial help of Caja GRANADA, Dóniz and William started their own business,
integral reparation for houses. Two years after receiving their loan, they have
four employees, and feel perfectly at home in Spanish society.
AMSTERDAM,
NETHERLANDS The Dutch Microfinance Platform selected Mrs. Pat Lon,
a finalist in the Cambodia Awards and client of Cambodia Entrepreneur Building
(“CEB”), to open the AEX Amsterdam Stock Exchange on November 18th.
Mr. Bun Mony, Chairman of the Cambodian Microfinance Association and General
Manager of CEB, accompanied Mrs. Lon to the Netherlands. After Mrs. Lon sounded
the gong at 9am, two short films illustrating her life, the role of microcredit
and scenes from Cambodia were displayed. Mrs. Lon makes souvenirs and sells
them to shops around the temple complex of Angkor Wat. She managed to increase
the family income from 1 USD a day to 13 USD a day. Furthermore, as a direct
result of the first loan, she has built a wooden house instead of the hut the
family used to live in. Key participants at the AEX opening were Stijn Albregts,
President of the Dutch Microfinance Platform; Resi Janssen, Senior Investment
Officer at NOVIB; Peter Blom, General Manager of Triodos Bank, representing
the platform’s participating banks; and Robert Dijksterhuis from the Ministry
of Foreign Affairs.
WARSAW,
POLAND The Microfinance Center (MFC) organized the event at Warsaw
Stock Exchange. Mr.Grzegorz Galusek, Executive Director of Microfinance Centre,
and Mr.Jamie Ruiz de Santiago, Head of the Polish United Nations mission, made
opening remarks. After the bell rang, Mrs. and Mr. Stefaniuk, clients of Fundusz
Micro, presented their story to the audience. They have received over nine loans
during the last seven years. After the ceremony, the room was then opened for
discussion on microfinance issues in Eastern Europe. Attendees included MFC
Polish member organizations: Fundusz Mikro, Rural Development Foundation, Foundation
for the Development of Polish Agriculture and Inicjatywa Micro.