BURKINA FASO
AT A GLANCE
Head of Government: President Blaise Campaore
Next election: November 2010
Capital: Ouagadougou
Population: 15.2 million (UN, 2008)
Independence: 1960 from France
Human Development Index (HDI): 176th of 177 countries (2007/08)
Gender Gap Index (GGI): 115th out of 130 countries (2008)
Gross National Income (GNI) per capita: US$430 (World Bank, 2007)
Promoting the Microfinance Sector
Status: Operational
Local Organization: Professional of Microfinance Institutions of Burkina Faso (APIM-BF)
Canadian Expert: Guy Vaillancourt from Développement international Desjardins, Jean-Frederic Paradis and Diane Martel
Microfinancial institutions are community-based lending groups. They provide a range of key services to improve financial and business development services for low-income communities in developing countries. Women make up 50% of microfinancing clients in Burkina Faso. Canadian experts Guy Vaillancourt, Jean-Frederic Paradis and Diane Martel are working closely with the Professional of Microfinance Institutions of Burkina Faso (APIM-BF) to promote its development as a sustainable, credible, and demand-driven institution. Technical support provided by the CIDA-funded Deployment for Democratic Development (DDD) will also help defend the interests of women and strengthen gender equity. While APIM has made significant achievements, their institutional capacities are not strong enough to meet the significant role it must play in the implementation of Burkina Faso’s national strategy on microfinance. This DDD initiative offers APIM-BF the opportunity to strengthen its capacity to not only progressively and effectively take on the promotion of the microfinance sector but also to ultimately support the larger struggle to combat poverty.
Ensuring a Gender Approach to Microfinancing
Status: Operational
Local Organization: Unité technique d’éxecution of the National Strategy on Microfinance (SNMF)
Canadian Expert: Josée St-Hilaire from Développement international Desjardins
Adopted by the Government of Burkina Faso in 2006, the National Strategy on Microfinance (SNMF) is considered a priority in strengthening poverty reduction, the private sector, and rural communities. CIDA’s Deployment for Democratic Development (DDD) will continue to send Canadian expert Josée St-Hilaire from Développement international Desjardins to work with the SNMF’s Unité technique d’éxecution to improve their gender approach to microfinancing (50% of credit beneficiaries are women). This DDD initiative will help monitor the impact the national strategy has on the economic development of vulnerable populations, namely women, address the financial services needs of women and ensure their participation in decision-making processes.