MTA does a large chunk of its student sourcing from rural areas. It has been a direction of choice for us and strategically fits in with our long term growth plans. Our ability to scale and provide large numbers of trained microfinance staff, critically depends on tapping into large pools of educated but unemployed youth. While this direction has been fairly successful, we are facing our fair share of challenges.
So when Knowledge @ Wharton came out with an article outlining some success stories in this area, it was a delightful reading for all of us at MTA. In this well written piece, EGMM of Andhra Pradesh, who we know as doing some fantastic work in this space have been profiled.
Some interesting excerpts from this article :-
- There are 122 million 20-to-25 year olds in India. Of these, 70 million are from the rural poor.
- In a country with a billion-plus population, an estimated 88.5 million people between the ages of 15 and 29 need to be trained. But only a very small fraction receives vocational training, according to Narendra Jadhav, a member of the government’s Planning Commission.
- Only 11% of those between 17 and 23 years old enroll in higher education.
- TeamLease, a staffing company in Bangalore, says 58% of India’s youth are not prepared for work or suffer from some kind of skill deprivation.
- And while around 14 million people enter the workforce every year, only 7% work in the organized sector.
A link to the article is below
http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/india/article.cfm?articleid=4408#
This video report from CNN – covers microfinance clients in UP, India. Profiles one of MTA’s preferred employers – Satin Credit Care.
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In a fairly long and elaborate report, read about how microfinance is positively impacting our soceity. Profiling real borrowers and clients of SKS Microfinance, it is an insightful look at how micro loans make a meaningful impact.
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http://tinyurl.com/naumo6
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The Microfinance Training Academy’s role of a resource catalyst, is about sourcing the right resources and training them to work with Microfinance Institutions. In the video below, a student who has been placed as a Field Credit officer, shares his experience.
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The world is in the midst of a banking revolution that has nothing to do with exotic financial engineering. It’s in microfinance, or the provision of financial services to poor people worldwide.
Read more on Marketwatch – http://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-next-banking-revolution
(About the author of the article – Elisabeth Rhyne is managing director of the Washington, D.C.-based Centre for Financial Inclusion at Accion International)
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The Good news – The Microfinance Sector continues to grow.
Some highlights of a report from LiveMint dated July 13, 2009.
- The microfinance industry has seen the most active venture capital deal flow within the banking and financial sector since January 2008.
- Of about 50 private equity deals worth $1 billion (Rs4,940 crore) in banking and finance in the last 18 months, microfinance alone accounted for 20 deals worth at least $200 million.
- Last week SKS Microfinance, the largest microfinance institution (MFI) in India, announced a $10 million strategic investment from general and life insurance firm Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance Co. Ltd. The two firms had come together last year to launch the first micro-insurance product for the rural poor. The deal signals the significance of how the client network built by MFIs could serve as a distribution channel for products besides credit.
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Besides SKS, firms such as Equitas Micro Finance India Pvt. Ltd, Bhartiya Samruddhi Investments and Consulting Services Ltd (Basix Group), SHARE Microfin Ltd, Bandhan Microfinance, and Ujjivan Financial Services Pvt. Ltd have acquired larger customer and capital base. So, the sector is bracing to see at least a couple of big ticket fund raisings in the coming months. SHARE Microfin and Spandana Microfinance are in the process of raising rounds between $50 million and $60 million, say some industry representatives.
- The credit requirement in India is huge and market penetration is still believed to be around 10% of the total requirement. In fact, 40% of India’s population is unbanked, while MFIs have been able to reach only 114 million people with a loan portfolio of over $1 billion, leaving scope for growth.
On the challenges faced by the microfinance sector, the report had this to say – “Though the sector paints a pretty picture, there are a number of challenges going ahead, players believe. Multiple borrowings by the same customer and hiring of staff to keep up with the growth have emerged as impediments.”
Microfinance Training Academy,has been established with the primary goal of ensuring that the Microfinance success story is not impeded by the staff hiring challenge. MTA is putting in the infrastructure necessary to ensure a steady availability of trained manpower to the sector. With the bulk of hiring and staff needs being at the bottom of the H.R. pyramid – Loan Officers aka Centre Managers; MTA’s initial efforts are focussed on this segment.
As H.R. and Operations heads at Microfinance Institutions decide that recruitment and training of new staff is a “non-core” activity, that is best outsourced, MTA is positioned to cater to those very needs. A dedicated team of outreach professionals, trainers and recruiters continues to build and offer a solution to one of the most pressing needs of the sector.
For more information, please contact
General information about MTA – info@microfinancetraining.com
Placements – profiles@microfinancetraining.com
Phone: 91-141-6505014 / 91-9251649014
Microfinance Training Academy
For – HR heads and Ops heads looking to recruit Centre Managers or Branch Managers.
To access profiles of students who are looking at careers with Microfinance Institutions, a secure section has been created. If you would like access to these profiles, please write to info@microfinancetrianing.com for more information.
A warm welcome to all visitors to the MTA blog. We plan to share events, news and happenings at the MTA through this blog. Partner MFIs can share their organization news and updates for posting here. Drop us a line with your updates – info@microfinancetraining.com.
Students (current and past) can post to the internal student blog. Ask the Admissions office for login details, if you do not have them.