THE LATIN AMERICAN CONSORTIUM FOR TRAINING IN MICROFINANCING

THE ORIGINS    
OF COLCAMI    

The Microenterprise Unit of the Interamerican Development Bank, as part of its strategy to promote microenterprise development in Latinamerica, requests to some institutions the formulation of a project for a specialized regional center for training in microfinance. The project presented by Universidad Anahuac del Sur in Mexico City is selected to establish the center.

Both institutions have joined forces to promote the formation of a Latinamerican consortium that will contribute to the development of microfinancing in Latinamerica and the Caribbean. It hopes to achieve this by establishing a specialized training center that benefits from the best practices, technological advances in microfinancing and the resources of those institutions which are committed to development. In this way, the center offers an integral solution to the training demands of this sector of financial intermediaries.

MISSION    

To strengthen the capacity of formal and informal financial institutions to provide high-quality sustainable financial services to microenterprises in the interamerican region.

STRATEGY    

• To develop a flexible curriculum that can be adjusted to the needs of the practitioners of microfinancing, offering them courses that constitute a balance between practice and theory.
• To prepare case studies from which are derived findings that enrich organizations and the practice of microfinancing.
• To bring together and then disseminate information that promotes professional excellence and the best possible practices.

PARTICIPANTS    

The consortium is headed by a committee of experts in microfinancing, operating under a direction that combines practical experience with educational ability and brings together the most prestigious formal and informal Latinamerican financial institutions in the field of microfinancing. Initially, it consists of the University Anáhuac del Sur, the Interamerican Development Bank, the Bancosol in Bolivia, Compartamos in Mexico, Fenacoac in Guatemala, and Bandesarrollo in Chile.

This consortium allows that practitioners contribute with their experiences and benefit from training through the excellence in human resources formation from Universidad Anáhuac del Sur.

ACTIVITIES    

Courses that center on the strengths of the diverse banking and microfinancing methodologies, presented in specialized themes such as:

• Fundamentals and experiences
• Program design
• Best management practices
• Finance
• Leadership and effectiveness for credit officers
• Seminars and colloquies
• Specialized documentation

WHO WOULD BENEFIT    
FROM THE CONSORTIUM?    

The activities of the consortium are aimed at the following:

• Parties interested in microfinancing
• NGOs who are looking to involve themselves in the area of microfinancing
• Formal and informal financial institutions that require human resource training to improve their programs of microfinancing
• Commercial banking
• Development banking

CONTACT ADDRESS        

COLCAMI contact address:

COLCAMI

Avenida de las Torres 131,

Col. Olivar de los Padres,

Mexico, D.F. 01780.
Tel (525) 628 88 00
Fax. (525) 628 88 37
Email: colcami@vince.uas.mx
Web: http://www.colcami.org/