European Microfinance Programme

The EMP courses will be taught in English by professors from three European universities: Solvay Business School (Université Libre de Bruxelles), Université Paris-Dauphine and Wageningen University, as well as by microfinance experts from PlaNet Finance, an international NGO with a worldwide microfinance network. This program will deliver a professional education that combines academic excellence and real-world experience.  It is based on a multidisciplinary approach aimed at broadening the understanding of microfinance and its future challenges in developing countries.

The expertise within each of the three participating universities complement each other extremely well, thereby enhancing the quality and the breadth of the EMP.  Solvay Business School (Université Libre de Bruxelles), the academic coordinator of the EMP, brings to the program the necessary financial and economic competencies and expertise in financial regulation and microfinance products. Université Paris Dauphine stands out in matters relating to the sociological and socio-economical dimension of microfinance, as well as specialises in microfinance and commercial banking in an urban context. Wageningen University contributes an innovative perspective on development economics with a focus on microfinance and micro entrepreneurs in a rural environment.

PlaNet Finance will support the EMP with its wealth of expertise in training, information management and technical assistance to the microfinance sector. It is important to combine academic theory with ‘real world’ experience and PlaNet Finance's practical contribution of actual case studies will complement many of the issues covered in the lectures.  PlaNet Finance will be responsible for teaching the course on the management of microfinance institutions, as well as assume the task of identifying internship opportunities for all of the students.

Programme structure

The European Microfinance Programme delivers a broad program which encompasses:

• general management
• development issues and their link to microfinance
• tools for financial analysis
• microeconomics, contracting and financial products
• macroeconomics and regulation
• organizations and markets structures
• rural and urban microfinance issues

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Content of the programme

The European Microfinance Programme aims at delivering a round programme that covers:

.  general management

.  development issues and their link to microfinance;

.  tools for financial analysis;

.  microeconomics, contracting and financial products;

.  macroeconomics and regulation;

.  organizations and markets structures;

.  rural and urban microfinance issues.

The program will last one year (60 ECTS) and each of three partner universities plus PlaNet Finance will deliver 3 to 4 lectures, which approximately correspond to 8/12 ECTS credits. The remaining credits will be acquired through the final assignment and field internship.

The programme unfolds in three semesters:

.  September to January (First Semester)

The student will follow the first two modules: "Microfinance in Practice" and "Microfinance and International Development". Each module is divided into three lectures (+exams). The third module "The Microfinance Environment" is divided into 6 lectures. The three first lectures will be given in Brussels during the first semester.

.  February to Mid-March (Second Semester)

The three remaining courses are provided by Wageningen University and are followed by an exam session in end March.

The first semester courses will be held in Brussels at Solvay Business School. Professors from Paris Dauphine and PlaNet Finance practitioners will travel to Brussels to deliver their lectures. Visiting professors will deliver courses in three intensive three-day sessions.

During the second semester, two possibilities are offered to EMP students. First, most EMP students are welcomed at Wageningen University for the last three courses. A second option with adapted courses on rural microfinance is exceptionally offered to students working in Brussels.

Also at the end of the first semester students must select their research topic for their final EMP assignment. A coordination committee, made up of representatives from three universities and PlaNet Finance, will draw up a list of possible research subjects proposed by lecturers.

.  May to September (Third Semester)

Students will complete a two to four month field internship preferably at microfinance institutions in developing countries. At the beginning of the second semester PlaNet Finance will coordinate these positions, making every effort to match the position with the students’ topic selection for their final research assignment.

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Courses

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Lectures

1st Module : Microfinance in practice

1. Microfinance from conception to management - Marc Labie - Solvay Business School

This course will cover the basics of microfinance: What is microfinance? How does it work? How is it put into practice by microfinance institutions?

2. Management of Microfinance Institutions I and II - Mostaq Ahmed - PlaNet Finance

This course will cover the management of microfinance institutions focusing in particular on the areas of strategic and business planning.

3. Microfinance Contracts and products - Loïc Sadoulet- Solvay Business School

This course will cover the different ways of assessing credit risks and how contracts take those into account as well as the different kinds of microfinance products (credit, savings, insurance, leasing, etc) and the specificities of each region (Africa, Asia, Latin America).

2nd Module : Microfinance and International Development

4. Microfinance and societies - Sylvaine Trinh - Université Paris Dauphine

This course will cover main development theories and issues such as gender, exclusion, poverty, inequality, informal economy, etc. As well as the thinkers that have influenced these theories: e.g. Amartya Sen on freedom of choice and Alain Touraine on autonomy.

5. Microfinance and International Aid - Marc Raffinot - Université Dauphine Paris

This course will cover public policies concerning microfinance and the diverse orientations of the key international institutional donors.

6. Beyond microfinance : impact, opportunities and challenges - Elsa Assidon - Université Paris Dauphine

This course will cover methods for assessing the impact of microfinance, opportunities for development and challenges ahead.

3rd Module : The Microfinance environment

7. Monetary policies and regulatory framework of microfinance - Ariane Chapelle - Solvay Business School

This course will cover the effect of monetary policies and regulation on microfinance, with particular emphasis on the regulation and supervision of microfinance institutions .

8a. Financial sector deepening - Ariane Chapelle - Solvay Business School

This course will cover the integration of microfinance in the financial sector and its position amongst commercial banking institutions.

8b. Case studies in urban microfinance - Elsa Assidon - Université Paris Dauphine

This course will present case studies on microfinance activities in a competitive environment, credit market structures, SMEs and the evolution toward individual credit methods.

9. Rural economic development - Marrit van den Berg and Aad van Tilburg - Wageningen University

This course focuses on the demand for microfinance services in the rural sector.  It address the issue of the entrepreneur’s access to inputs and outputs, markets, investment opportunities as well as the constraints of the rural environment including property rights and access to technology.

10. Rural microfinance institutions - Henk Moll and Marijke D'Haese - Wageningen University

This course will focus on the institutional environment of rural entrepreneurs, distinguishing formal and informal structures and the positioning and functioning of financial institutions in the rural environment.

11. Case studies in rural economic development and microfinance - Marrit van den Berg, Aad van Tilburg, Henk Moll and Marijke D'Haese - Wageningen University.

This course will present case studies concerning livelihood strategies, rural business strategies, rural business environments, agricultural issues and management of risks in a rural environment.

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Professors

ULB - Solvay Business School

Marc Labie	Marc Labie is Assistant Professor at the Department of Management of the Faculty Warocque of the University f Mons Hainaut in Belgium where he teaches organizations studies. Dr Labie specializes in studying microfinance organizations. He has a B.A in Economics and Social Science and a Ph.D. in Business Administration from the University of Mons Hainaut. He has also studied for brief periods at the London School of Economics and Political Science as well as at the Universidad de Salamanca. He is an alumni of the FIPED 1997 Program in Cambridge, MA. In the past, he has worked mainly on cases in Colombia but also for shorter projects in Indonesia, Kenya, Morocco, and Mexico. His current research deals mainly with corporate governance issues in Microfinance.
Loïc Sadoulet	Ph.D. in economics (Princeton, 1999), Affiliate professor of economics at INSEAD.  Loic Sadoulet has been working in the field of microfinance since 1993.  His research has focused on the extension of a wider range of financial services for the poor (not only credit, but insurance, savings and payment services).   Before his current position, he  worked for the World Bank (1993-1995) on the "Banking with the Poor" project, and was a research fellow at ECARES at the ULB (1998-2004). He regularly consults for the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank. He has also worked in the Dominican Republic and in a microfinance institution in Guatemala, and is currently involved in establishing financially-sustainable microfinance activities in underserved areas of Brussels and Paris in partnership with large commercial banks which won a 225K€ grant from the Brussels Capital Regional government.
Ariane Chapelle	Professor of Finance at the ULB and lecturer in many Executive Education programmes. She worked previously as internal auditor and then risk manager for ING Belgium. She has been a trainee at the World Bank in the 90's and has worked in collaboration with two NGO's. She holds a Ph.D. in Economics from ULB. She has published two books and several scientific articles on corporate governance, finance, and risk management.

Paris Dauphine Université

Sylvaine Trinh	Sylvaine Trinh, Professor of sociology, Director Master, Sustainable Development and Responsibility of Organisations. Her researches are focused on the links between corporate activities, environment and sustainable development. She also has a deep knowledge of Asia-Pacific societies.
Elsa Assidon	Elsa Assidon is graduate of Sciences-Po Paris, Dauphine University PHD and agrégée in economics. Since 1999, she is professor at the Institute of Latin America Studies (I.H.E.A.L., Paris III-Sorbonne Nouvelle University), and  fellow researcher of CREDAL (CNRS). She currently teaches economic development thinking and policies, banking and monetary systems, microfinance. She has published four books (one as co-editor), various articles and expertise reports about development issues. Her main contributions are relative first to economic history of the big export-import french companies in West Africa ( Le commerce captif , L'Harmattan, 1989), afterwards to development theories ( Les théories économiques du développement, 2002, 3nd issue, La Découverte, Repères). Successively, she has been member of UNESCO french Committee and of International Cooperation Council. eassidon@wanadoo.fr , www.iheal.univ-paris3.fr

Wageningen University

Henk Moll	Associate Professor Agricultural Economics, with a specialisation in rural finance and agricultural policy analysis. He studied horticulture in Utrecht and joined the Organization of Netherlands' Volunteers to work in Zambia in the co-operative movement. Thereafter he studied agricultural economics at Wageningen University. He worked for the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in Tanzania, Sri Lanka and in Rome. Thereafter he joined the Netherlands' Ministry of Development Cooperation to design and establish a co-operative microfinance programme for small farmers in West Java, Indonesia. He teaches microfinance, agricultural and rural development in MSc and PhD programmes. Research is focused on rural institutions and the economics of crops and livestock. He chairman of the Credit Committee of ICCO, one of the four Netherlands' NGOs that focus on the developing world.
Marrit van den Berg	Assistant professor at Wageningen University specialized in the economics of (farm) households operating under conditions of imperfect markets and high risk. She has experience in Central America and South and East Asia and holds a PhD in development economics from WU. Before rejoining WU in 2002, she worked at the Development Research Institute (IVO) of Tilburg University.
Aad van Tilburg
Marijke D'Haese	Assistant professor at Wageningen University with specialization and interest in institutional economics and chain management applied to developing countries. Her experience is mainly in South Africa. She graduated and worked previously at Ghent University from where she holds a PhD in applied biological sciences.

PlaNet Finance (NGO)

Mostaq Ahmed

Dr. Mostaq Ahmmed is an expert in microfinance & development and the current director for PlanetFinance Training and Technical Support Department in Paris, France.   Dr. Mostaq was respectively Deputy General Manager and Head of the International Training & Information Department for ASA, one of the largest MFIs in Bangladesh operating with over 3.6 million clients.  He  has also worked in Bangladesh and in several other countries on research programs and development projects revolving around the relations between European countries and least developed and landlocked countries (LDCs). Dr. Mostaq led numerous microfinance projects and provided technical assistance to different MFIs and NGOs located in developing countries. Some of the projects include, but are not limited to Microfinance & Health in Benin, Microfinance & ICTs, Microfinance Capacity Building in Argentina, Morocco, China, India, Pakistan, Togo, Benin, Ivory Coast etc. Dr. Mostaq has a Masters Degree of Social Sciences from Dhaka University in Bangladesh, a Masters Degree in International Relations and European Politics from the University of Liege, and a PhD. in International Relations from Washington University-USA.  Dr Mostaq Ahmmed is also a visiting scholar of microfinance at HEC- France, the University of Bergamo-Italy and the University of Nantes-France. mahmmed@planetfinance.org     /    dr_mostaq@yahoo.com

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