Citi and Microfinance Institutions

The Project

Citi develops and delivers critical trainings to Microfinance Institutions.

The Opportunity

Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) support the poorest members of a country's population by providing them with the small loans necessary to start their own businesses and support themselves and their families. MFIs, made famous in the 1980s and '90s thanks to the huge successes of Grameen Bank, play a major role in strengthening the economies of developing countries from the bottom up.

Many of these organizations are currently either transitioning from nonprofit to for-profit status or are diversifying to include commercial sources of funding. In order to successfully complete this transition without disrupting their work, leaders of MFIs require knowledge and comprehension around basic governance, policies, reporting asset liability and financial risk management.

Citi's Pro Bono Investment

Employees from Citi's Microfinance Group leveraged their professional expertise to work with Women's World Banking to develop and deliver trainings to MFIs on basic governance, policies, reporting asset liability and financial risk management microfinance institutions.  To magnify the impact of this investment, two to three professionals from Citi in each participating region provide relevant practical expertise while making presentations and leading exercises during a three day course delivering these trainings. Furthermore, to better prepare employees to translate their existing expertise and  skills in this new environment, Citi Foundation and leadership from Citi's Microfinance Group support trainings for participating employees to provide background on the sector and MFI participants, as well as presentations, exercises, and talking points applicable for the specific MFI audience.

The Impact

To date 10 trainings have been conducted, reaching more than 200 participants from more than 100 MFI's.

About the Client

Microfinance institutions (MFIs) help the poor transform their entrepreneurial enterprises into self-sustaining businesses by providing them with investment capital, financial information and other services including savings and health insurance.

Women's World Banking supports a global network of more than 50 microfinance institutions and banks in 29 countries throughout Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, Latin America and the Middle East, offering them a full menu of advisory services and veteran leadership in the mission to bring financial empowerment to poor women entrepreneurs.

About the Company

Citi, a leading global financial services company, has some 200 million customer accounts and does business in more than 100 countries, providing consumers, corporations, governments and institutions with a broad range of financial products and services, including consumer banking and credit, corporate and investment banking, securities brokerage, and wealth management.