CABEI presents 5th Microfinance Management Award to Fundación Génesis Empresarial

The Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI) today presented the CABEI Microfinance Management Award to Fundación Génesis Empresarial of Guatemala for its excellent performance in the categories of financial self-sufficiency, average loan size, percentage of women beneficiaries and operational efficiency.

Mr. Sergio Avilés, head of CABEI’s Financing for the Majority Unit, presented the important award at the "6th Central American and Caribbean Conference on Microfinance 2012" held in Panama City, Panama.

Mr. Avilés explained that the award is presented to the winning microfinance institution after a rigorous selection process, which includes all of the 54 Central American nonbank financial institutions that channel the Bank’s resources to people of limited means in order to create jobs and contribute to poverty reduction in the region.

He emphasized that CABEI is the multilateral agency which provides the most support to the microfinance and SME sector in the Central American region, disbursing US$ 2.0 billion in 2012. It also has the largest regional network of intermediaries to channel its resources, with over 110 intermediary institutions including banks, microfinance institutions and savings and loan cooperatives.
    
In 2004, the first award was given to FAMA, an NGO in Nicaragua that provides credit and training to microentrepreneurs, especially women. In 2006 it was awarded to the Nicaraguan organization FDL, which provides microcredit to MSMEs, also with a focus on women. The third CABEI Microfinance Management award was presented to CRYSOL, Guatemala, which fosters community development; and in 2010 the fourth award went to the Honduran FAMA OPDF, which seeks to foster development and empower microentrepreneurs that live in the urban and rural areas of Honduras.

CABEI’s Microfinance Management Award was established by the Bank to encourage the performance of microfinance institutions that channel the Bank’s resources in order to promote the microfinance sector’s development and continue providing sustainable funding to MSMEs in Central America.

In addition, for the first time at this year’s fifth award ceremony, 2 scholarships to attend the highly prestigious and globally renowned “Boulder MFT in Spanish Program” will be presented. The Boulder Institute of Microfinance program will offer 3 intensive weeks focusing on sustainable development with access to over 60 courses taught by world-renowned faculty in microfinance in Cartagena, Colombia. For 17 years, this program has trained more than 4,000 professionals from more than 145 countries worldwide.