MicroFinance Network elects Kurt Koenigsfest as new chair

Microfinance Focus — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 07:10:03 +0000

Microfinance Focus, Nov. 25, 2009: On the sidelines of the 16th Annual Conference of the MicroFinance Network (MFN) that was held last week in Nairobi, Kenya, the MFN General Assembly elected Kurt Koenigsfest, General Manager, BancoSol, as the new Chair, and also welcomed Mahabub Hossain, Executive Director, BRAC, as a new member of the Steering Committee.
Mr. Koenigsfest replaces Carlos Labarthe, who served as the Network Chair for the past four years.
“I know that this comes as a personal challenge and at times of deep changes in the microfinance industry worldwide. I have the motivation to work with our network to make sure that we open the path for our organizations to grow, to innovate, to lend to the very poor, to respect our clients, and most of all, to give the people in our countries the opportunities that they never had,” said Mr. Koenigsfest in his message to the members.

Mr. Koenigsfest is an active member of a number of banking and microfinance boards including ASOBAN (the Bolivian Private Banking Association), where he acts as Vice Chairman, AFIN (the Microfinance Training Institute of Bolivia), and ATC (credit and debit card processor). He was the Chairman of ASOFIN (Association of Regulated Microfinance Institutions of Bolivia) from 2004 to 2008, and now the Chairman of the ACCION Network.
In 2006 he was elected as Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. A native of La Paz, he graduated in Business Administration from the University of North Texas, USA.Related Posts:

Share/Save

European Microfinance Week 2009 to reflect on MF performance amidst crisis

Microfinance Focus — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 15:15:17 +0000

European Microfinance Week 2009

Microfinance Focus, Nov. 06, 2009: European Microfinance Week 2009 will take place from 24th – 26th November 2009 in Abbaye de Neumunster, Luxembourg. Conference will be organized by the European Microfinance Platform, a microfinance network of over 115 organizations active in microfinance.

The theme for the 2009 meeting will be ‘Microfinance in a new financial era’ and will examine how the microfinance sector has reacted in the face of the global financial crisis. A combination of plenary, workshop and roundtable sessions will ensure participants make the most of their opportunity to stay informed, debate and contribute to discussions.

“Learning from the global crisis” and “Opening perspectives beyond the crisis” are some of the topics addressed by microfinance’s leading experts during a three-day programme. Among the issues raised are opportunities in microinsurance, transparency and supervision, environment and microfinance, social responsibility and funding in times of crisis.

Participants will have the opportunity to meet and share experience with European players from key sectors: financial institutions, NGOs and universities, as well as representatives of policy-making bodies such as the European Investment Bank and the Luxembourg Ministry of Foreign Affairs – Development Cooperation. Guest speakers include Plutarchos Sakellaris (Vice-President European Investment Bank), Inshan Ali Nawaz Kanji (Aga Khan Agency for Microfinance – Switzerland)), Mary Ellen Iskenderian (Womens World Banking – United States), Roshaneh Zafar (Kashf Foundation – Pakistan), Teshome Dayesso (Buusaa Gonofaa, Ethiopia – winner of last year’s 2nd European Microfinance Award), Kimanthi Mutua (K-rep bank – Kenya), and Gregory Vincent (INTL Global Currencies), Anton Simanowitz (Imp-Act), Faisel Rahman (Fair Finance), and Malcom Harper.Related Posts:

Share/Save

Microfinance News » microfinance network

MicroFinance Network elects Kurt Koenigsfest as new chair

European Microfinance Week 2009 to reflect on MF performance amidst crisis