Setting the tone for the conference, this session will look at the state of the global microfinance industry, its current challenges and opportunities, and the implications on global trends for the Arab region. Topics to be discussed will include:

• Effects of the global financial crisis on MFI financial performance and portfolio quality;
• Learning from national level repayment crises, causes and recovery;
• Impact of the global food crisis on client repayment capacity;

Sanabel Regional Overview: State of the Industry

The main objective of this session is to assess the role of national microfinance strategies in building inclusive financial sectors globally and the experiences to date in the region. The session will explore the major impetus for and drivers of these national strategies (e.g. donor coordination, savings mobilization, transparency and standardization of sector activities, improved investment climate, etc), how they have been developed (i.e. top down, bottom up, participatory, etc.) do we need these strategies, how have they fit in the national planning process, what key development objectives were envisioned, whether they have been achieved, and if there were any unintended consequences?

The objective of this session is to highlight the existing social performance assessment tools that can be used to complement financial analysis. This would enable MFIs to better understand how, in addition to measuring their financial performance and progress made towards financial sustainability, there are also various tools available now for the region that can help them in measuring their contribution to their clients and to the SMART objectives and development goals they have identified for their respective organizations.

This session will focus on savings as an important financial service for low income populations and microentrepreneurs. With the introduction of microfinance-specific laws and regulations in several countries in the region, some MFI have begun introducing savings products for the first time to these groups. In other countries, where savings products are not yet provided by MFIs due to regulatory restrictions, postal operators represent the largest MFIs in the country. This session shall focus on new experiences from the region in introducing savings products and shall also discuss the role of postal operators in financial inclusion, highlighting various opportunities for postal offices to becoming large-scale microfinance providers.

This session will focus on the key elements for an effective response to serious economic crises, for a return to strong core institutional foundations, and maintaining a strong portfolio. The session will highlight that it is possible to turn the global financial crisis into an opportunity, realigning organizations to have a clearer, market-responsive (as opposed to donor-defined) business strategy and realistic growth plan by focusing on fundamentals.

The session shall present an overview of the different types of regulatory models used for mainstreaming microfinance into the formal financial sector, based on the specific needs and level of development of the market. This session will start with an introduction to the general importance of regulation (prudential and non-prudential) for microfinance and to what extent it is necessary, followed by a discussion of country specific experiences from the region covering the rationale for selecting certain regulatory paths over others, challenges encountered and experiences with implementation.