GATHERING TO TACKLE HUMAN RESOURCE OBSTACLES OF THIS KEY ECONOMIC SECTOR ACROSS MENA

His Excellency, the Minister of Finance, Mr. Mohammad Chatah, representing His Excellency The President of the Republic of Lebanon, General Michel Sleiman, has inaugurated the 6th Annual Conference entitled: "Human Capital in Microfinance: People, Passion and Value" organized by Sanabel - The Microfinance Network of Arab Countries, based in Cairo, at Le Royal Hotel, Dbayeh- Greater Beirut, Lebanon. The Conference took place from May 12th – 14th 2009.

With over 500 participants, Sanabel’s annual conference was the largest gathering of microfinance practitioners, government officials, investors, donors and other industry stakeholders in the MENA region.  In accordance with the Human Capital theme, the conference recognized ten outstanding MFI employees from the region and celebrated the accomplishments of several successful Lebanese micro entrepreneurs.

Microfinance refers to the provision of financial services to poor or low-income clients, including consumers and self-employed who have no access to conventional banks. Though Arab microfinance industry is quite young, it is one of the fastest growing areas when compared to its global peers.

• The emerging industry has expanded tremendously since its commencement as there are today approximately 100 active microfinance institutions (MFIs) across the Arab world serving 3.5 million clients as compared to 130,000 in 1999.
• Microfinance has steadily replaced governmental programs and employment funds as the most important source tool for starting and consolidating income-generating activities.

However, compared to other parts of the World (Latin America, South Asia), the Microfinance sector in the MENA region is still underdeveloped in terms of beneficiaries as well as sustainable Microfinance Institutions.  The number of active microfinance clients remains quite insignificant when considering that:

• In the Arab countries 60 million people live on less than $2 per day.
• The majority of the MFIs in the region are not-for-profit NGOs with very few commercial banks active in the sector.