Entries tagged with Mali

sbrown's picture
Does slow and steady win the race? A Reflection on PUCA’s First Year >
sbrown
• 12/31/10
• Posted in Africa, APSFD, Catholic Relief Services, Grameen Foundation, Mali, oikocredit, Planet Rating, poverty, ppi, progress out of poverty index, PUCA, Senegal, Terrafina Microfinance, West Africa
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Last August, my colleague Babacar Sambe and I set out in earnest to plan Grameen Foundation’s first deployments of the Progress out of Poverty Index (PPI) in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). After analyzing the landscape, considering budget constraints and the location of local GF staff, we decided to begin our first efforts in Mali and Senegal. Rather than go it alone, we reached out to other international NGOs that support poverty-focused microfinance institutions (MFIs). And to round out our collaborative group, we invited other important locally based constituents-- namely a microfinance rating agency and the national associations of both countries. Our group of PPI supporters was formally branded the PPI Users Collaborative in Africa, otherwise known as PUCA (pronounced PUCK –a). PUCA includes Catholic Relief Services, Grameen Foundation, Oikocredit, Terrafina Microfinance, Planet Rating, and the national associations – APSFD Senegal and APSFD Mali.

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PreetiWali's picture
Notes from the Field: Action Planning and Reflections >
PreetiWali
• 07/07/10
• Posted in Africa, crs, Mali, oikocredit, Planet Rating, poverty, ppi, PUCA, Senegal, social performance, Terrafina, training, West Africa
• 0 Comments

It’s Friday and it’s all coming to a close. Participants from FDEA and and MEC Feprodes are preparing their action plans—getting ready for their PPI pilots and ensuring appropriate allocation of time and resources for using the PPI. This is an incredibly important step in the process; we find that without action plans, many participants would return to their institutions, overrun with work, and PPI plans would lag.

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PreetiWali's picture
Notes from the Field: Visiting Caurie Microfinance >
PreetiWali
• 07/07/10
• Posted in Africa, crs, Mali, oikocredit, Planet Rating, poverty, ppi, PUCA, Senegal, social performance, Terrafina, training, West Africa
• 0 Comments

Today I took a short trip with Ali (Babacar's brother) and Andre Roland Youm, Director of Operations at Caurie MF, to Thies in west central Senegal. Thies is situated 35 miles 56 km) east of Dakar, a 90-minute drive from Saly, where we held our PPI Training and Executive session. Thies, one of the largest cities in Senegal, is an important transportation center. The junction of the eastern Dakar-Niger River railway and the northern rail and road systems is located there. So is Caurie Microfinance, one of the larger MFIs within the country.

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sbrown's picture
Notes from the Field: Image is Important >
sbrown
• 07/01/10
• Posted in Africa, crs, Mali, oikocredit, Planet Rating, poverty, ppi, PUCA, Senegal, social performance, Terrafina, training, West Africa
• 0 Comments

“Pit-a-pat, pit-a-pat, pit-a-pat” - the sound of heavy rain on a zinc rooftop. “Image is important,” I hear Alou Sidibe’s* words in my head.

“Pit-a-pat, pit-a-pat, pit-a-pat,” the rain continues. “Kafo is serious,” says Bourama, the first client interviewed with the PPI in the field test**, as we converse in his sitting room and he sweeps away the water that seeps in from the heavy rain outside.

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PreetiWali's picture
Notes from the Field: The PPI, A Sum of All Its Parts >
PreetiWali
• 06/30/10
• Posted in Africa, crs, Mali, oikocredit, Planet Rating, poverty, ppi, PUCA, Senegal, social performance, Terrafina, training, West Africa
• 0 Comments

“Can you drive a wheel? Can you drive a door?” As pictures of pieces of a car were passed around the room, these are the questions our trainers asked. Of course, the response was a resounding “No.” Just so, the trainers explained, “The PPI is like a car, you can only drive it if you have all the parts in place.”

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PreetiWali's picture
Notes from the Field: The TOTOT, A Training of Trainers of Trainers >
PreetiWali
• 06/30/10
• Posted in Africa, crs, Mali, oikocredit, Planet Rating, poverty, ppi, PUCA, Senegal, social performance, Terrafina, training, West Africa
• Comments

The PRE-training. It’s the first time we’ve tried this approach--training a group of PPI trainers and then having them immediately train a group of participants from MFIs that are committed to social performance and interested in using the PPI. Why do it this way? We’re building capacity among our partners who, in turn, will build it further.

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PreetiWali's picture
Notes from the Field: Teranga, Trainings, and Tea >
PreetiWali
• 06/29/10
• Posted in Africa, crs, Mali, oikocredit, Planet Rating, poverty, ppi, PUCA, Senegal, social performance, Terrafina, training, West Africa
• 0 Comments

Teranga is a traditional Senegalese term meaning hospitality. Our wonderful colleague Babacar Sambe’s family did not hold back in showering us with all the teranga possible, taking us around, feeding us, and always having tea ready for those long days. Teranga gives the “T” in TLC new meaning . For me, teranga resonates with the cultures of so many developing countries--when a guest is present, the host will prepare atleast one extra serving than is necessary for meals.

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PreetiWali's picture
Notes from the Field: Setting the Stage, Poverty in Mali and Senegal >
PreetiWali
• 06/29/10
• Posted in Africa, crs, Mali, oikocredit, Planet Rating, poverty, ppi, Senegal, social performance, Terrafina, training, West Africa
• Comments

Today I arrived in Dakar to join Sharlene Brown from our Social Performance team and Babacar Sambe, our West Africa representative. Along with our partners in the PPI Users Collaborative for Africa (PUCA), we were gathering for the second installment of PUCA PPI trainings.

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PreetiWali's picture
Grameen Foundation and Oikocredit: A PPI Partnership in Six Countries  >
PreetiWali
• 06/10/10
• Posted in Cambodia, Ecuador, Grameen Foundation, Mali, oikocredit, Peru, Philippines, ppi, Senegal
• Comments

When Oikocredit joined forces in 2007 with Grameen Foundation, it became the first social investor to support the use of the Progress Out of Poverty Index (PPI).

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PreetiWali's picture
PUCA: Creating New Microfinance Partnerships in the Field >
PreetiWali
• 02/18/10
• Posted in Africa, crs, Mali, oikocredit, Planet Rating, ppi, PUCA, Senegal, Terrafina
• Comments

Sub-Saharan Africa is one of the poorest regions in the world. Grameen Foundation wanted to find the best way to help microfinance institutions in the region achieve their mission of moving their clients out of poverty - and so PUCA was born.

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