4:00 p.m.-7:30 p.m.
Room 601, 269 Mercer St.

This special Africana Social Sciences Seminar looks at Microfinance first from the perspective of some of the leading academic scholars of the issue, and then from the point of view of practitioners who are actively working in Africa.  A unique mix of theory and practice that is bound to be enlightening for anyone with an interest in Africa, microfinance and economic development.
 

4:00-5:30 Academic Panel: Microfinance Research--What Next?

Four economists studying microfinance look at the emerging issues in the academic study of microfinance. The focus is on meshing data from recent field experiments with economic theory.

Moderator: Prof. Jonathan Morduch (New York University)
Prof. Morduch has written widely on microfinance and is the author of  The Economics of Microfinance (MIT Press, forthcoming Spring 2005) written jointly with Beatriz Armendariz de Aghion.

Speakers:

Prof. Jonathan Conning (Hunter College) has most recently finished the chapter, "Rural Financial Markets", with Chris Udry, for The Handbook of Agricultural Economics, Vol. 3.  He is a prominent scholar of the economics of financial institutions, slavery, land tenure, and inequality.  He will speak on the theoretical agenda in the economic study of microfinance.

Prof. Rajeev Dehejia (Columbia University) specializes in microeconomics and applied econometrics.  He will speak on insights from behavioral economics, explaining the findings of some of his recent work on microfinance in Bangladesh.

Jonathan Zinman (New York Federal Reserve Bank) conducts applied research on intertemporal consumer choice. His work on how and why consumers use debit and credit cards tests theoretical models of consumer and portfolio choice, and sheds light on the role of psychological influences and liquidity constraints on consumer behavior. His ongoing work in South Africa with Dean Karlan uses the random assignment of interest rates and marketing strategies by a cooperating consumer lender to identify information asymmetries, interest rate elasticities of demand, and the importance of decision frames.

5:30-6:00 Break - wine and cheese cocktail hour.

6:00-7:30 Practitioners Panel: Making Microfinance Work In Africa

Three experts on the practice of microfinance discuss the status of microfinance in Africa today.  They will focus on emerging trends, problems limiting the development of microfinance in the region, and innovative solutions from the field.

Moderator: Prof. William Easterly (New York University)

Speakers:

Mr. Lawrence Yanovitch, Director of Policy & Technical Assistance has ten years of experience in microenterprise program management.  At FINCA, he directs public policy, institutional planning, technical design, and research.  Yanovitch has provided technical assistance and training to over 150 development professionals in the development of microfinance intermediaries in 22 countries.  He is Co-chair of the Microenterprise Coalition (comprised of 27 leading microenterprise NGOs); Chair of Working Capital; the largest microcredit program in the United States; a member of the Policy Advisory Group for the World Bank's Microfinance Consultative Group, (CGAP); co-founder of the U.S. Campaign for Global Leadership; and Adjunct Professor at Georgetown University. 

Ms. Phyllis Wanjiku Kibui is the Director of Relationship Management at Women's World Banking. Ms. Kibui served as WWBs Africa Regional Manager from 1993 to 2002; as such she coordinated delivery of WWB products and services to affiliates in the region.  She was instrumental in building the Africa Microfinance Network Initiative (AFMIN), a network representing 365 institutions serving about two million clients in 13 countries in Africa.  Ms. Kibui joined WWB with eight years of experience as a financial manager and an auditor in a range of manufacturing and service industries in England and Kenya.

Ms. Kiendel Burritt has been a Senior Technical Advisor at the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) for the last seven years. At UNCDF Kiendel has provided support to UNDP and UNCDF microfinance initiatives in Africa in Angola, Malawi, Mozambique, Ethiopia, Ghana, Togo, Kenya, Madagascar, Zimbabwe, and Cote dIvoire and outside Africa in Macedonia, Turkey, Philippines, Yemen, and Pakistan. Prior to working for UNCDF Kiendel worked for Freedom From Hunger, one of the pioneers in this business, in West Africa as a Regional Advisor to initiatives supporting the development of microfinance lines of businesses primarily in Credit Unions and Rural Banks.  Kiendel's first career was in telecommunications consulting.