BURKINA FASO

AT A GLANCE
Official Name: Burkina Faso
Chief of State: President Blaise Campaore
Next election: November 2010
Capital: Ouagadougou
Population: 15.76 million (UN, 2009)
Independence: 1960 from France
Human Development Index: 177 of 182 countries (UN, 2009)
Gender Gap Index: 120 of 134 countries (World Economic Forum, 2009)
Gross National Income per capita: US$480 (World Bank, 2009)

Promoting the Microfinance Sector

Status: Operational
Local Organization: Professional of Microfinance Institutions of Burkina Faso (APIM-BF)
Canadian Experts: Guy Vaillancourt, Jean-Frederic Paradis, Linda Bergeron, Malik Seye and Lise Veilleux
Presentation: Community Finance = Money Serving People by Lise Veilleux

The APIM-BF was founded in 2002 to promote microfinancing in Burkina Faso. Microfinancing is the provision of financial and business development services to low-income clients and communities, who traditionally lack access to banking and related services. APIM-BF requested assistance from Deployment for Democratic Development to strengthen its capacity to implement the national strategy on microfinance. Canadian experts from Développement International Desjardins, the largest financial cooperative in Canada, are working closely with APIM-BF to promote its development as a sustainable, credible, and demand-driven institution, strengthen its role as official spokesperson on behalf of Burkina Faso’s microfinance institutions, improve communications and information flow, produce and disseminate a Code of Ethics, and strengthen gender equity. In this way, APIM-BF can better promote the microfinance sector and ultimately support the larger struggle to combat poverty in Burkina Faso.

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, Linda Bergeron and Lise Veilleux

SNMF, the Technical Implementation Unit of the National Strategy on Microfinance was launched in 2006, with the goal of reducing poverty, strengthening rural communities and strengthening the private sector. There is a focus on economic development for vulnerable groups. Women now receive half of all loans. Canadian experts from Développement International Desjardins are working with the SNMF to help assess and address women’s financial services needs, develop products to meet those needs, ensure their participation, and measure the impact.