Regulation serves to ensure the financial soundness of a Microfinance Institute (MFI), reducing the chance of failure and reinforcing the public’s trust in these financial institutions. Regulations in the form of capital adequacy requirements, reserve requirements, loan loss provisions, and loan documentation are all examples of measures to ensure an MFI will be able to maintain its operations.
I have had the experience in drafting the Micro-finance Regulatory Policy Framework for Botswana in Africa and Frankfurt School Development Finance e-Campus courses played a role in this experience.
I work as a Certified Micro-finance Expert and I am currently helping to establish a bank for the Ghana Armed Forces in Ghana. I am leading the Operations Department Team in the areas of Credit Operations, Branch Banking, Electronic Banking & Special Projects. I have had a great learning experience with Frankfurt School of Finance e-Learning programmes. I studied Certified Expert in Micro-finance in 2013, Certified Expert in SME Finance in 2015 and Certified Expert in Financial Inclusion Policy in 2018. My motivation to undertake these courses stems from the flexibility of the programme in terms of work-cum-study environment and their practical relevance to my career ambition.
The knowledge I gained from the Certified Expert in Micro-finance programme enabled me to execute a consultancy assignment in Botswana in 2014 – “Development of a Policy Framework for Micro-finance in support of an Enabling Environment for Enterprises in Botswana”.
The objective of this assignment was the development of a policy framework for micro-financing, with a view to guide Government of Botswana to draft and enact appropriate regulation for micro-financing, thus creating an enabling environment for access to finance for all enterprises and Community Based Organizations in Botswana. Relevant portions of this regulatory policy framework included – Categorization of MFIs for Licensing & Supervision, types of Institutions to be covered under the Policy Framework, regulation of Interest Rate, consumer protection, Know Your Customer (KYC) and Money Laundering and many other. This assignment also included the drafting of the Terms of Reference for the Micro-finance Act of Botswana.
Keeping in mind all the positive experience I had with FSDF e-Campus, I landed in Frankfurt School of Finance and Management to attend the 19th edition of the Summer Academy from July 9 – 13, 2018 on the theme, “Micro, SME & Housing Finance”. It was a great experience meeting micro-finance experts in the various fields and course mates from over 20 countries.
The social interaction aspect of the Summer Academy where an Inter-Country Dance Competition was organized, gave course participants a feeling of acquiring not only knowledge but also the exchange of cultures! My learning experience in my technical elective- Housing Finance- was appropriate for my current job in Ghana, where the micro-finance bank engages in providing affordable housing finance for members of the Ghana Armed Forces (Army, Navy & Airforce) in Ghana. Frankfurt School has a great ambience for learning and research and I will recommend it to all aspiring business students all over the world. The e-learning courses are flexible, practically oriented and will give you great knowledge and experience after completing each programme.
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