Ratings & Information Systems
Microfinance Ratings: Stimulating Improvement
Between January 2005 and December 2007, the EU/ACP Microfinance Programme has supported the Rating Fund's efforts to improve the quality, reliability and availability of information on the risk and performance of microfinance institutions. It has provided subsidies for the co-financing of ratings and for awareness-raising activities in ACP countries; supported the improvement of market information; and helped strengthen raters’ capacities.
Co-financing ACP MFI ratings
The Rating Fund has co-financed ratings for nearly 90 MFIs in ACP countries and more than 450 worldwide. All these ratings are disclosed and publicly available. A survey of the Fund showed that four out of five MFIs that received a subsidy considered improved performance the highest benefit of a rating and 40% reported a funding transaction following a rating.
Read ratings already performed on ACP institutions
The Rating Fund empowered MFIs with information on raters' services and strengthened the capacity of raters, without distorting thtis private sector business. The Fund phased out and stopped approving co-financing at the end 2007. Lessons learned form this market building inititiave feed into future public and private efforts to support transparency in microfinance.
Read the evaluation report 
[358 KB] .
Demand and supply in the rating industry
The Rating Fund has made great strides in stimulating demand for microfinance ratings and in increasing transparency of MFI performance. By agreeing on common standards, facilitating dialogue among raters and generating market information, the Rating Fund has contributed to the building of a market for microfinance ratings and has harmonised donor support for ratings.
Read more about the state of the microfinance rating industry in the 2008 Rating Market Outlook Report [2 MB] supported by the EU/ACP Microfinance Programme.
Information Systems
Since January 2008, the EU/ACP Microfinance Programme assists ACP MFIs with Information Technology (IT) expertise. Inadequate Management Information Systems (MIS) are a constraint to the growth, performance and transparency of many, especially smaller, ACP MFIs. Through an Information Systems (IS) Program, jointly funded with CGAP, the EU/ACP will help ACP MFIs make informed decisions on their MIS.
The IS Program provides:
• information on the many IS solutions available to MFIs: see software listings
• expert reviews and user feedback on IS software: about software reviews
• co-funding through the IS Fund for MFIs to hire independent IS consultants: to apply:
Assignments that can be co-funded by the IS Fund include helping an MFI analyze their business and technology needs, select a software package, improve their existing information systems, or integrating social performance management into existing MIS.
To apply to IS Fund or learn more [196 KB] ,
