Conference objective and contents

The objective of the technical workshop held at the Washington, D.C. headquarters of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) on June 13-14 2000, was to promote best practices in the microfinance of housing (MFH) and to share and compare recent Latin American experiences in this field. The Infrastructure and Finance Division of the IDB, Region 2, organized the workshop, which was sponsored and supported by the Sustainable Development Department and the Microenterprise Unit.

Workshop participants discussed how to promote MFH programs that actively involve low-income citizens, and how to design financially sustainable programs in the medium and long term programs.

Representatives of the following institutions presented their experiences: Mutual La Primera (Bolivia), SEWA Bank (India), Financiera Calpia (El Salvador), De Shackel Cu (Surinam), Banco Ademi (Dominican Republic), Fundacion Pro-Vivienda Social (Argentina), and the Inter-American Investment Corporation.

During the first part of the workshop speakers highlighted the importance and the implications of MFH, dwelling specifically on its benefits for Latin America communities. This was followed by a special panel discussion on how to extend mortgages to low-income borrowers. The workshop included presentations from various MFH community organizations, which described their respective experiences, objectives, and achievements. The major donors presented their policy guidelines, and recent innovations in this field.

The workshop concluded with a summary of the main lessons learned from recent practices and a discussion the challenges ahead for MFH in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Welcome

• What is the microfinance of housing? Why it is relevant to both the housing finance and the microenterprise finance communities?
  Bruce Ferguson, Social Development Specialist, Inter-American Development Bank.
  (presentation)

Mortgage Finance: Reaching Low-Income Borrowers

• Case Presentation: Mutual La Primera, Bolivia.
  Carlos Grandchant, General Manager.
  (presentation in Spanish only)

• Loan pricing, structuring, and servicing for moderate/low-income borrowers.
  Bob Buckley, Principal Urban Specialist, World Bank
  (presentation)

Microfinance of housing

• Institutional strategy: perspective of advocacy, financing and development rules.
  Kimberley Wilson, Catholic Relief Services.

• Case Presentation: SEWA Bank, My Own Home.
  Jayshree Vyas, Managing Director, SEWA Bank, India
  (presentation)

Adding a Housing Finance Product for Microfinance Institutions

• Case Presentation: Financiera Calpia. Strategic NGO partnerships: El Sauce and Las Palmas.
  William Bonilla, General Manager, Financiera Calpia. El Salvador.
  (presentation 1 in Spanish only- presentation 2 in Spanish only)

• The incorporation of a home improvement loan program within the existing operations of a MFI.
  Frank Dauphins, Director, Field Program Management, CHF
  (presentation)

Microfinance of Housing: Problems and Solutions

• Case Presentation: Microfinace of Housing: The Case of Suriname.
  Misiekaba, Andre, CEO of DE Schakel CU
  (presentation)

• Case Presentation: Donor support for NGO's in the housing market: coverage and outreach. (Argentina)
  Raul Zavila, Executive Director, Fundacion Pro-Vivienda Social
  (presentation in Spanish only)

• Case Presentation: Risk management for new products. How to Introduce a New housing product without overloading microfinance of infrastructure. (Dominican Republic)
  Pedro Jimenez, Banco ADEMI
  (presentation in Spanish only)

• Legal framework for Microfinance of Housing
  Ramón Rosales, ICC Inc.
  (presentation in Spanish only)

Private and Public Sector Innovations

• New Products: Delta Leasing in Chile.
  Leonor Demori, Investment Officer, Inter-American Investment Corporation, IDB
  (presentation)

• Housing council model: public partnership through infrastructure and bond financing.
  Antonhy Pell, Partner The Group for Home and Infrastructure Finance (GHIF)
  (presentation)

• Providing liquidity to financial systems, the Dominican Republic, a structural overview and innovations.
  Steven Bernstein, Chief Economist for International Affairs, HUD
  (presentation)

Donor Support Of the Microfinance Of Housing

Conclusions and Next Steps

Gabriel Schor, Vice President, Frontier Finance International

Bruce Ferguson, Social Development Specialist, IDB
(presentation)

Others

The following material was not presented at the conference but we consider worth readings, for those interested in Microfinance of Housing Practices.

• Antecedentes y Perspectivas De La Cooperativa Jesus Nazareno.
  La Cooperativa "Jesus Nazareno" Ltda Y El Microcredito Urbano
  (presentation in Spanish only)

• The Experience Of Grameen Bank Housing Program in Bangladesh.
  Dipal Chandra Barua, Grameen Bank
  (presentation)

• Participation and Sustainability in Social Projects: The Experience of the local development program (PRODEL) in Nicaragua.
  Stein, Alfred, Swedish International Development Co-Operation Agency (SIDA)
  (presentation)

• "Haciendo La Ciudad Entre Todos".
  Font, Guillermo, Cooperativas De Viviendas Por Ayuda Mutua en Uruguay
  (presentation in Spanish only)

• Bolivia: Marco Normativo y de Supervisión Para Entidades Orientadas a las Microfinanzas. Superintendencia de Bancos y Entidades Financieras.
  Lic. Jacques Trigo Loubière, Superintendencia de Bancos y Entidades Financieras. Gobierno de Bolivia
  (presentation in Spanish only)

• El caso de FUSAI: condiciones de financiamiento.
  Luis Antonio Castillo, Fundación Salvadorena de Apoyo Integral

• Micro-finance of Housing: a key to housing the low or moderate-income majority?
  Bruce Ferguson, Social Development Specialist, Inter-American Development Bank
  (presentation)