Crafts bazaar marking the International Women Day in Skopje, March 5-8, 2019

In support of women entrepreneurship, the Alliance of microfinance organizations decided to partner with the Chamber of crafts which has over 10.000 members and support this year’s bazaar where women-entrepreneurs present their products to the market and learn more about finance and access to loans to support their business ideas to make sure they and their families grow steadily and continuously, along with the society as a whole.

It was an opportunity for the craft producers to spend time with microfinance organizations and learn first-hand about the opportunities of access to finance for their further development and expansion of their businesses. The joint effort is also part of the principles of responsible lending as a commitment of the Alliance and its members-financial institutions.

The key reason behind this activity lies in the fact that microfinance directly supports women entrepreneurship as one of the key prerequisites for successful and sustainable development of every community and the society as a whole. Women’s active participation in labor market provides for the financial independence of women and opportunities to strengthen their role and contribution to the common growth, but also to free them from domestic violence and abuse of them and their children

At this event, the representatives of the microfinance organizations engaged in an active dialogue with the women-entrepreneurs to understand their needs and challenges better and customize their services to better serve their business’ priorities.

Publication of the National Bank of the Republic of Macedonia

In partnership with the National Bank of the Republic of Macedonia and the members of the National coordination body for financial education and inclusion, we were honored to be part of the team that created this useful and important publication: SMART MONEY MANAGEMENT - Personal finance guide, intended for all target groups and ages ... We invite you to read and learn more about money management and microfinance in an interesting way, at the link: http://www.nbrm.mk/…/FINAL_Kniga__Pametno%20upravuvanje%20s…

11th conference of the NBRM on payments and Market infrastructure

At invitation of the NBRM, along with our members Moznosti, FULM, Horizonti and MEDF we were part of the 11th conference on payments and Market infrastructure...

Digitalization is a trend also in microfinance, to bring financial services closer to our clients, in a safe and easily accessible manner...

We are talking about this on the second day of the conference of NBRM.

The introduction of payment services in non-bank financial organizations enables all citizens to pay cheaper, faster, safer and easier, in the time convenient for them, without having to wait in lines... 

The experiences from Serbia and Bulgaria show that it is necessary for Macedonia to join this process now and we are glad to be contributing...

Day 3 of the conference of NBRM on payment systems...

MEMORANDUM OF COOPERATION IN THE FIELD OF FINANCIAL EDUCATION AND INCLUSION  

Today, on October 20, a Memorandum of cooperation in the field of financial education and inclusion was signed at the premises of the National bank of the Republic of Macedonia, by the governor of the National bank, Mr. Dimitar Bogov and the executive director of the Alliance of microfinance organizations, Mr. Goran Lazarevski.

The need for improved access to finance as part of the process of strengthening entrepreneurship and innovation, towards building a sustainable, competitive and market-oriented financial system, is realized through the continuous building of financial literacy of clients and their inclusion in the modern financial system.

With the memorandum, a cooperation in the field of financial education and inclusion is established between the National bank and the Alliance.
The cooperation shall be realized in the areas of policy creation, research and analysis, joint activities to raise awareness in the public and promote financial education and inclusion, organization of educational activities and exchange of relevant expertise.

The Memorandum of cooperation was signed as part of the activities marking October 20th, the European microfinance day and the International Credit Union Day.

Regional forum: FINANCIAL INCLUSION THROUGH MICROFINANCE

On Thursday, 22 September, 2016, at the Marriott Hotel, Skopje, the Alliance of Microfinance Organizations and the USAID’ Microfinance Innovation and Inclusion Project hosted the first regional forum “Financial Inclusion through Microfinance”.The forum, attended by more than 90 participants from the public, business and civil sector, was organized in cooperation with the Savings house Moznosti, Savings house FULM, Microcredit foundation Horizonti and the Macedonian Enterprise Development Foundation. 

The executive director of the alliance, Mr. Lazarevski expressed the importance of microfinance as part of the Macedonian economy, focusing on financial inclusion of vulnerable groups and poverty reduction.
The Minister of finance, Mr. Minoski made a remark about limited access to funds for Macedonian enterprises and the measures undertaken to improve access to finance and promote entrepreneurship while stressing that microfinance is one of the priorities of the Government and confirming commitment to a strong partnership with the Alliance of Microfinance Organizations.
The Governor of the National bank of Macedonia, Mr. Dimitar Bogov reaffirmed the commitment of the National bank to cooperate with the Alliance in improving financial inclusion, by organizing joint activities in the field of financial literacy as well as stronger use of new technologies which make it possible for wide segments of the population to have access to financial services.
Mr. James Stein, the USAID Mission director declared that the USAID efforts “focus not only on the low-income households, but also the micro- and small companies which are a dominant part of the national economy and with these forms of assistance, they will have a chance to realize their plans”.

The session “Financial inclusion and Microfinance”, included Ms. Pawlak from the Microfinance center (Poland), Mr. Ramirez from the European Microfinance Network and Mr. Lazarevski from the Alliance. Under the moderation of Ms. Zgonjanin Petrovic from the Savings house FULM Skopje, new statistics were presented and the key role of new technologies in improving financial literacy was accented.

In the session “Microfinance in the region”, Ms. Zgonjanin-Petrovic welcomed Ms. Sandra Rodic from Serbia, Ms. Adisa Mujkic from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Mr. Florin Simon from Romania and Ms. Snezana Andova from Macedonia, sharing regional experiences of past decades in developing the microfinance market and understand the road behind us and the ambitions with Regulation as key word.

The workshop included a variety of highly relevant information for our participants; Mr. Ramirez presented the “EaSI Technical Assistance to the European Microcredit Sector”, and Ms. Pawlak talked about the “European code of good conduct for Microfinance provision”. In his presentation “Microfinance Sector in Europe”, Mr. Benaglio brought us closer to the current regulatory trends in the EU and the microfinance business in general, while Mr. Ucchedu presented the European Investment Fund and the possibilities it offers for eligible organizations from our region. Ms. Giulia Boioli from Permicro, presented innovative practices as an example for organizations from the Balkans region.

On Friday, the Alliance of Microfinance Organizations and the USAID’ Microfinance Innovation and Inclusion Project organized a field trip visiting the offices of Horizonti in Shuto Orizari, Moznosti in Veles and FULM in Kavadarci, giving the visitors an opportunity to learn about the operations and practices of these leading non-banking microfinance organizations and share their experiences on how to prevent risks and improve the existent operation models.

The forum established a sound base to build a regional cooperation platform for joint action in improving regulations and strengthen financial literacy and at the same time successfully provided the commitment of the public sector in Macedonia.

On Thursday, September 22 at Hotel Marriott Skopje, the Association of microfinance organizations is hosting the Regional forum - "Financial inclusion through microfinance", in collaboration with: Savings House Moznosti, Savings House FULM, Microcredit fondation Horizonti and the Macedonian Enterprise Development Foundation, with the support of the USAID’ Microfinance Innovation and Inclusion Project.
The event will begin at 10:00h.
During the forum opening ceremony, the Governor of the National Bank of Macedonia, M-r Dimitar Bogov, the Minister of Finance, M-r Kiril Minoski, the USAID Mission Director, M-r James Stein and the Executive director of MFO, M-r Goran Lazarevski will address the audience.
Two panel discussions will follow with a workshop from the European Microfinance Network, organized in the framework of the EaSI Technical Assistance program (https://www.fi-compass.eu/theme/EaSI).

This regional forum will be an opportunity to discuss a variety of topics such as the key role of microfinance in financial inclusion, innovative approaches to providing better access to finance, the current status and challenges for microfinance in the region, the regulatory environment for microfinance, access to EU funds for microfinance organizations and more.
The forum will bring together networks of microfinance organizations, non-bank microfinance organizations, regulatory authorities, relevant experts from the country and the region and representatives of donor organizations.
No participation fee is charged for the event.
If you are interested to join us in building a new regional microfinance platform, please contact us at: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. today

Improving skills and capacity of MFO

Our team was invited by FORUM -CSID to participate in a program for Project Cycle management – PCM, in organization of Detra Center as a part of USAID Organizational performance improvement project.

           The Training program was composed of two modules in two-day workshops in Skopje. The first module was held on 9 and 10 June, while the second module continued on 29 and 30 June.

In total 15 participants from different organizations were working on gaining skills and improving capacity for project management and preparation of proper project-suggestion. The program allowed us to gain knowledge on the concept of managing the project cycle, analysis problems and development objectives, the Logical Framework Approach in developing the project, the analysis of external factors, analysis of indicators, budgeting, filling the concept note and preparation of full application. The workshops were adjusted to the application format of EU project calls.

           In the upcoming period we will continue with the work helped by mentorship, to fully complete the applications using the skills gained from the workshops.