CRISIS AND DISASTER MANAGEMENT IN MICROFINANCE (MFB/2024/03)

There are three (3) basic categories of Microfinance Service Providers in Africa. These are:

• The Formal Institutions.

The formal Institutions are incorporated, licensed, regulated and supervised by the Banking regulatory authorities in the nation.

• The Semi-formal Institutions.

These institutions are registered but not regulated and supervised by the banking regulator.

• The Informal.

This group of service providers is made up of individuals that are neither registered nor regulated. Their activities are unpatterned and uncoordinated. They are not officially recognized. They carry out their business in clandestine manner. Various governments in Africa are trying to mainstream this category of operators to the main financial system through policies.

Microfinance refers to the provision of financial services to the active poor who are traditionally not served by the conventional financial institutions. In many countries, particularly in Nigeria, Microfinance has been integrated into the main financial system. Being integrated into the National Financial System, the operators of the formal microfinance institutions act as banks to cater for the active poor in the society and their micro-enterprises. They are regulated and supervised.

Experience has shown that the bane of most microfinance institutions are Risk Management Lax which crystallize in risk events that ultimately create banking panic and crises. Risk Management failure, financial panic, crises and disasters are consequentially related.

According to Albert Einstein, problems cannot be solved at the same level of awareness that created them. Banking panic and crises call for a basket of solution.

It is against this backdrop that we design this three-day Training to achieve the following specific objectives.

TRAINING OBJECTIVES

 At the end of this training, participants should be able to:

• Demonstrate understanding of the concept or risk management, Banking Panic, Crises and Disaster;
• Identify the process of risk management;
• Identify various categories of risk that face their microfinance institution/banks;
• Identify sources of banking panic, crises and disaster
• Manage banking panic, crises and disaster within the context of their institution
• Demonstrate understanding of Business Continuity Management.