MFC Signed Strategic Partnership with CMF (Nepal) Expanding Cooperation with Country Associations beyond Europe and Central Asia

MFC expands its cooperation through entering strategic partnerships with national networks beyond Europe and Central Asia. We believe this will allow us to stay ahead of market developments and keep abreast with new emerging ideas that can have transformative impact on the sector as well as promote regional developments among broader financial inclusion community.
Today we are happy to announce the first partnership has been signed with Centre for Microfinance (CMF), Nepal. This partnership will focus on exchange of knowledge and information, identifying opportunities for joint promotion and fundraising. We believe that CMF, a long term partner of MFC managed Social Performance Fund, can contribute to our vision and benefit from diverse experience of MFC and our members.

The Centre for Microfinance (CMF) Nepal is a network of microfinance institutions and professionals initiated in 2000 by the private sector with a not-for-profit agenda. The institution has a variety of stakeholders across the microfinance sector including banks, cooperatives and NGOs. Since its establishment, CMF Nepal has dedicated all its efforts to strengthening microfinance institutions (MFIs) and enabling them to reach the poor with a variety financial services with a vision of “sustainable access to financial services for the poor.” The fundamental themes on which CMF builds its work are networking, research, training, advisory services, hands on support, and advocacy. CMF Nepal has to its credit a range of publications that are highly valued and utilized by MFIs in Nepal and abroad. These publications include a range of training manuals, research findings, best practices, and proceedings of microfinance summits. The training programs focus largely on improvements in management and services at the field, branch and the central levels. CMF Nepal periodically organizes international visits for MFIs to expose them to the challenges faced, remedies adopted and innovations made by MFIs in other countries. A dedicated team of experienced professionals specializing in management, finance, research, training, enterprise development and field work coordinate CMF ideas and initiatives in collaboration with members, partners, and specialists in the field. So far, microfinance institutions have reached nearly half of the households in the country with a diverse range of products and their reach to the poor has remarkably expanded. A significant part of the achievement in poverty reduction is attributed to improvements in microfinance services to the poor.

At the moment Programme is started with 9 country level associations: MFO (Macedonia), AMFI (BiH), AMFOT (Tajikistan), AMFA (Azerbaijan), AMFI (Kyrgyzstan), UCORA (Armenia), AMA (Albania), AMFOK (Kazakhstan) and CMF (Nepal).