Microfinance Resource Material

Member-owned Institutions Study

The Coady Institute was commissioned by the Ford Foundation to conduct a comparative study of member-owned microfinance institutions providing services in remote, rural areas of Asia, Africa and Latin America. Member-owned institutions (MOIs) include cooperatives, credit unions, self-help groups and financial service associations. While gains have been made in rural finance, remote areas are still largely neglected in terms of research and access to financial services. This study examined seven MOIs in Africa, Asia and Latin America.  The complete study is available on the Coady Publications page.

Microcredit Summit

The Coady International Institute sent two speakers to the Global Microcredit Summit in Halifax in November, 2006. Nanci Lee, senior program staff with the Community-Based Microfinance department, presented on her study of remote rural finance. This was followed by a panel discussion that included representatives from credit institutions and programs from Mexico, Vietnam, Burkino Faso and Pakistan. Mary Coyle, Director of the Coady and Vice President of St. Francis Xavier University, presented on "The Canadian Experience, Internationally and Domestically" which also began a panel discussion featuring representatives from Canadian credit unions, development organizations and community funds.

Leading up to the Summit, Nanci worked with ACIC members on microfinance and spoke on microfinance to 200 students in the International Development Studies program at Dalhousie University on October 16th, 2006.

Copies of Nanci Lee's and Mary Coyle's presentations are available:

Coady Partnerships

The Coady Institute completed the last phase of a four-year partnership with the Self Employed Women's Association (SEWA) Bank, in Ahmedabad, India, funded by the Canadian International Development Agency. Through the Women's Microfinance Project, Coady staff and a core group of SEWA trainers designed and developed materials to improve SEWA's rural training with over 75,000 of its low-income members working in micro-enterprises and 11 district-level associations. This project resulted in the production of three training manuals focused on member financial literacy, district-association business planning and self-help group management. www.sewabank.org

The Institute has entered into a new partnership with the recently opened Indian School of Microfinance for Women (ISMFW) and its CitiGroup Centre for Financial Literacy to build the capacity of microfinance groups, associations, and women leaders in the microfinance sector. With funding from Citigroup, the Coady will support the ISMFW with business and strategic planning, training of trainers and curriculum development particularly in the area of financial literacy. Future plans include the design and delivery of distance-based learning. In November 2004, a pilot distance learning course in community-based microfinance was held with ISMFW faculty as a panel speaker and staff participating in the course.  www.ismw.org.in/default.asp

Recent Publications

Hamadziripi, Alfred & Nanci Lee. (2005). Community-based microfinance: A participant's manual. Antigonish, NS: Coady International Institute.  [Includes case-study of CARE, Zimbabwe)

Lee, Nanci. (2004). A gold thread: Building assets and courage among SEWA's microfinance members (54k PDF) in Women for Women International. (2)1, pp. 21-26.

Lee was editor for the following publications in collaboration with SEWA Bank and Freedom for Hunger:

SEWA Bank/Coady International Institute. (2004). Strategic business planning for district association staff: A facilitator's guide. Ahmedabad, India.

 SEWA Bank/Coady International Institute/Freedom from Hunger. (2003). Financial education for SEWA bank members: A facilitator's guide. Ahmedabad, India. (1.75 Mb pdf)

 SEWA Bank/Coady International Institute. (2003). Formation and management of savings and credit groups: A facilitator's guide. Ahmedabad, India.

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