Let's Talk Microfinance

Feb 14 2023 3
Let's Talk Microfinance Podcast artwork

Aimed at anyone interested in microfinance and inclusive fintech, with content tilted towards financing of MFIs. Brought to you by Financial Due Diligence Associates (https://www.linkedin.com/company/fdda/), a multilingual consulting partnership founded by Guy Rodwell and Zinaida Vasilenko, specialised in holistic, relevant and concise analysis of financially inclusive companies. FDDA also helps asset managers in accessing French institutions through an alliance with Oxondo, a leading Paris-based third party marketer. You can reach FDDA by contacting Guy Rodwell on LinkedIn, or by emailing us at [email protected].

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Jarri Jung from Triple Jump on the role of subordinated debt in MFI financing

Feb 14 2023 39 mins  
Jarri Jung is Director, Financial Institutions at Triple Jump. In this episode, he discusses the outlook for the microfinance sector and talks about the opportunities and challenges of lending subordinated debt.Key insights:The health crisis has passed but higher interest rates and the inflation environment have replaced Covid as the main concern facing the industry.Although subdeb

Steven Duchatelle, CEO of Advans Group, on his company's digital transformation

Jan 23 2023 48 mins  
Steven Duchatelle is the CEO of Advans Group, where he has worked for nearly 22 years.In this episode, Steven outlines the risks and opportunities for the microfinance sector in coming quarters, before focusing on Advans’ experience of digital transformation, how it drives efficiency and customer outreach, along with potential obstacles to such transformation and the impact on Ad

Michael Kortenbusch from Business and Finance Consulting on Agricultural Value Chain Finance

Dec 20 2022 50 mins  
Michael Kortenbusch is a Senior MSME Lending Expert, Team Leader, and the Managing Director of Business & Finance Consulting (BFC).With 30 years of overall professional experience, of which 24 years in banking and development finance, and 16 years in agriculture lending, he has led, supervised and provided expertise in over 55 projects implemented by BFC, primarily focused on M

ASA Kenya's Sazzad Hossain on how it uses digital financial services while staying true to its social mission.

Nov 18 2022 30 mins  
Following up from the previous, fascinating episode with Martijn Bollen and Karin Kersten from ASA International, we interview Sazzad Hossein, CEO of ASA Kenya one of the group’s most important subsidiaries, in which he gives a brilliant view of how ASA takes advantage of digital financial services, in the form of M-PESA, while adhering to its core social mission and values.Sazza

ASA International on COVID, current operating conditions and digital financial services

Nov 15 2022 45 mins  
This week we welcome ASA International. It is one of the world’s largest international microfinance institutions providing small, socially responsible loans, averaging about $166, to 2.4m low-income entrepreneurs, most of whom are women, across 13 countries in Asia and Africa. Listed on the London Stock Exchange under the ticker “ASAI” it has a market capitalization of about

Erik Geurts on the impacts of high inflation, the strong US Dollar and rising interest rates

Oct 18 2022 37 mins  
Erik Geurts, the accomplished financial inclusion consultant, discusses the impact on emerging markets of the strong US dollar, high inflation and tighter interest rates, along with the knock impact on MFIs. He adds in some sensible prescriptions for MFIs, lenders and regulators alike. Based in Lima/Peru, Erik is Deputy Chair of the board of Banco D-MIRO in Ecuador and a financial

Herjola Spahiu (CEO of NOA Albania) on excellence in MFI fundraising

Apr 29 2022 35 mins  
Herjola Spahiu started her career at Emporiki Bank, Albania, which was acquired by Crédit Agricole Albania, and where she ended up as Head of Retail Banking. She then became CEO of NOA, Albania’s second largest non bank financial institution. She also served as chair of the Albanian Microfinance Association and is a member of the board of directors of the European Microfinance N

Jonas Enrico Luini from TCX on currency hedging for MFIs

Apr 01 2022 34 mins  
Jonas Enrico Luini started his career at Credit Access Grameen, and after roles at various other institutions, for the last five and a half years he has been a vice president at The Currency Exchange Fund (‘TCX’), founded in 2007 by a group of development finance institutions (DFIs), specialised microfinance investment vehicles (MIVs) and donors.TCX offers solutions to manage c

Youssef Fawaz (Al Majmoua) on Lebanon's economic crisis

Feb 20 2022 33 mins  
Youssef Fawaz is CEO of the Lebanese Association for Development – Al Majmoua, of which he was a founding Board Member in 1996. He is also one of the founding members of Sanabel, the Microfinance Network of Arab Countries, and served twice as Chairman of the Board in 2008 and in 2015. He is a Member of the Steering Committee of the MicroFinance Network, and a senior lecturer at t

Matteo Marinelli on the Coup in Myanmar

Feb 12 2022 47 mins  
Currently based in Ibiza, Spain, Matteo Marinelli is the former CEO and Board member of Maha Agriculture Microfinance, an agri-focused-fintech-oriented-MFI based in Yangon, Myanmar, owned by Myanma Awba Group, and the International Finance Corporation. He began his career with Grameen Bank, in Dhaka, Bangladesh and after short term consulting assignments in Tanzania, Afghanistan, S