INAFI Partners & Network

OXFAM NOVIB, NETHERLANDS

Oxfam Novib, Netherlands and the Dutch Ministry of foreign Affairs are the major funding partners of the INAFI network. Oxfam Novib works within the context of Oxfam International, a growing group which currently consists of twelve organizations for development co-operation. Oxfam International currently supports more than 3000 counterparts in approximately100 countries. Apart from improvement of output quality, Oxfam Novib has special interest in the linking and learning aspects of the INAFI project. Oxfam Novib’s funding relationship with INAFI focuses especially on social impact, poverty alleviation and gender equality within the context of micro finance intermediation. Oxfam Novib has been the primary funding partner of several INAFI practitioner institutions, and has been a major funding partner of the INAFI network since 1993. Presently all 9 regional bureaus of the Projects department of Oxfam Novib, Oxfam Novib’s Financial Services Unit as well as the Linkis team (Remittances, Migration and Development) of the Campaigns Department are involved in the relationship with INAFI.

African Union

The African Union (AU) harbors the same goals and ambitions as the EU: a continental parliament; which it already have—based in Johannesburg, South Africa, a central bank (in formation through the Reserve Bank of Nigeria), a single currency, a court of justice and an investment bank. The AU provides Africa with a regional forum for debating problems unique to the continent. It also provides a united front and inspires pan-African brotherhood over member countries. It was formally launched in July, 2002.

INAFI contribution in the African Union Workshop on the Elaboration of a Roadmap and Plan of Action for the Development of Microfinance in Africa, 30-31 July 2008, Dakar, Senegal has been a breakthrough. The study was commissioned as part of efforts by the African Union to develop microfinance within the broader context of continental economic growth and poverty alleviation efforts in partnership with INAFI.  INAFI International Executive Director chaired all the first day sessions, she emphasized on the state of Microfinance in Africa and the Roadmap.

Ordina

Ordina is a listed company and a leader in information and communication technology (ICT). Founded in 1973, Ordina currently employs 3,200 staff. Ordina works in the sectors of finance, utilities, telecom and media, public, trade, transport and industry. Ordina supplies a combination of management consultancy, architecture and design, software development, network and infrastructure, operational management. Ordina is a software company, one of the largest in the private sector in The Netherlands. Ordina’s engagement in the INAFI SIM Pilot Project stems from its commitment to Corporate Social Responsibility and a corresponding company policy. Through this policy, Ordina fosters the self-reliant development of developing countries through the input of nuclear knowledge on information systems and technologies.

CGAP

Established in 1995, CGAP (The Consultative Group to Assist the Poor) is a consortium of 33 multilateral and bilateral donor agencies involved in the development of microfinance worldwide. CGAP mission is to help alleviate poverty by advancing access to finance.

CGAP is the leading resource center for information in microfinance. CGAP distributes vital industry information and research through a variety of free publications and Web sites. INAFI has been partnering with CGAP to disseminate relevant information at Member organisations levels.

Related Links

International Fund for Agricultural Development

The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), a specialized agency of the United Nations, was established as an international financial institution in 1977 as one of the major outcomes of the 1974 World Food Conference. The Conference was organized in response to the food crises of the early 1970s that primarily affected the Sahelian countries of Africa. The conference resolved that "an International Fund for Agricultural Development should be established immediately to finance agricultural development projects primarily for food production in the developing countries". One of the most important insights emerging from the conference was that the causes of food insecurity and famine were not so much failures in food production, but structural problems relating to poverty and to the fact that the majority of the developing world's poor populations were concentrated in rural areas.

Inter-American Dialogue, Remittances and Development

The Remittances and Development Program  in Inter-American Dialogue seeks to encourage remittances as a tool for development throughout Latin America and the Caribbean. Through research and policy analysis, the project focuses on polices governing the flow of remittances, private sector services and the high costs of remitting, the banking industry and new modes of remitting, and the economic participation of Hometown Associations (HTAs) in countries of origin. Since 1997, the Dialogue's Remittances and Development program has researched, written, and released various reports on the remittances industry and related government polices.

Diaspora Forum for Development

Diaspora Forum for Development (DFD) is a platform of more than 40 diaspora organizations, platforms and networks representing more than 30 countries coming from Africa, Latin America and Asia. DFD was formally registered as a foundation in the city of The Hague, The Netherlands on October 2008.

DFD envisions a just and humane society where migrants - both men and women - are equally empowered and visible and can exercise their fundamental human rights. DFD recognizes the unique transnational role of migrants as actors in development. It seeks to harness the capacities of migrants so that they can actively participate in social, economic, and political sphere and contribute to initiating viable interventions to improve the quality of life of migrants, their families and their wider communities.

ENDA

Environment and Development Action in the Third World (ENDA-TM) is an international non-profit organisation based in Dakar, Senegal. Founded in 1972, ENDA is an association of autonomous entities co-ordinated by an Executive Secretariat. ENDA's worldwide representation includes:

• twenty-four teams at the Dakar headquarters each working on development and environment themes;
• twenty-one poles in Southern countries: fourteen in Africa, five in South America, two in Asia;
• a European delegation; Japanese representation to follow soon.

Enda collaborates with grassroots groups in search of alternative development models on the basis of the experience, expectations and objectives of marginalised peoples. This mutual commitment translates as:

• presence at all levels of decision-making and action;
• development of replicable models of progress, uniting action, research, training and communication;
• involving intellectuals and professionals in defining and implementing development models for the majority and the least privileged;
• fighting poverty: this is the primary principle behind Enda activities;
• involvement in international debates to render third world positions visible and influential.