MAY 2004

New beginnings and successful endings. Phase Three was launched in the remaining four provinces – Limpopo, Free State, Northern Cape and the North West – this month as preparations began to celebrate the successful training during Phase Two in Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga, the Western Cape and Eastern Cape.

MFSP training goes national

The BANKSETA Micro-Finance Skills Project is now active in all nine provinces and is gearing up for the final phase of training. During this phase of training, the BANKSETA Micro-Finance Skills Project aims to target 600 MFI learners, 700 SMME borrowers and 3800 individual borrowers. Launch contact sessions were held the Free State, Northern Cape, North West and Limpopo this month and the response from micro-finance institutions and consumer directorates was overwhelmingly positive. Maude Thomas of Northern Cape Consumer Affairs described the contact session as “very educational and beneficial” and was confident that the project would have a positive impact on the sector in the region. In the North West, Mabuza Financial Service manager Solly Mabuza said: “The contact session was very interesting. This project will definitely bring some changes in the Micro Finance Sector and my staff will be attending these lessons.” Deputy Director of North West Consumer Desk Gaki Pitso described the contact session as “excellent”. “I have already started making arrangements with my staff to attend these lessons which are going to be of great benefit to themselves and consumers.” Batho Cash owner Sarita Fourie of Welkom said she was impressed after the Bloemfontein session. “I am definitely going to attend the training and I will definitely send my employees.” In Limpopo, Morolong Quick Cash Finance manager Makahlola Mabyana committed his staff to attending the training sessions. Findo Motemela from the Limpopo Consumer Office described the contact session as informative. “We didn’t know much about this project but now we know what it is all about. The consumer office will be sending staff from six districts to the workshop,” he said.

“The warm response from micro-finance institutions indicates they are serious about getting the skills and training development that will help improve professionalism in the industry and ensure business sustainability,” said BANKSETA general secretary Richard Plant. Celebrating success

As the second phase of the project comes to an end, Certification Ceremonies are being held in the five provinces where training was underway. Once again the project has recorded great success and has exceeded its target of 400 MFI learners by 300%! The first certification ceremony takes place in the Eastern Cape on June 3. Thereafter, ceremonies will take place in Mpumalanga (June 10), KwaZulu-Natal (June 17), the Western Cape (June 22) and Gauteng (July 6).

If you have participated in this phase of training, make sure you are there! Contact Khensani Mageza at [email protected] or Jean McKenzie [email protected] . You can also call them at (011) 340 3800

Training on Target

MFI training continues to record great success. A further 211 learners were trained in May – bringing the total number of MFI learners training in Phase 2 to 1240. This means the initial target of 400 has been exceeded by more 300%. MFI learners have attended 1576 training courses during Phase 2.

KwaZulu Natal had the most number of learners during Phase 2 with 436 learners attending 577 workshops. This was followed by Gauteng 326 (419); Eastern Province 278 (348), Western Province 147 (165) and Mpumalanga 53 (67). Training facilitators have again urged learners to ensure that they choose the correct course to ensure immediate impact on the business.

Project officials are confident that the Phase 2 training target of 2 200 individual borrowers will be reached by June 15. There were 624 learners trained in May bringing the total number of individual borrowers trained to 1 989 by the end of May. The remaining 213 borrowers are expected to be reached through 12 workshops scheduled to the end of the Phase.

Internal activities at the Eastern Cape consumer directorate limited training in the region to 89 learners but this is expected to pick up before the end of the Phase. So far, 403 individual consumers were trained in Gauteng, 625 in KwaZulu Natal, 473 in the Western Cape and 399 in Mpumalanga.

SMME trainers needed only 25 more SMME borrowers to reach the Phase 2 target of 500 by the end of May. The number of courses attended by each SMME borrower remains very high with 1065 courses attended by the 475 learners.

A further 10 trainers were trained in the Western Cape - bringing the total intermediary trainers to 92. Silver training status

Louhen Finance in the Gauteng became the first company to reach Silver Status when two staffers were assessed this month – bringing the company’s point status to 50!

The following companies received Bronze status: Gauteng: Logical Bucks (40 points); Rainbow Loans (43,75); Ruksha Finance (50); Umsaka Wemali (45,45). KwaZulu Natal: Africa Bank (33); ETM Quick Cash (39); Lendco (38,46); Louhen Financial Services (41,67); Multilayer Trading (37,5); Shepstone Money Loans (41,67); Tsheleko Cash Loans (40). Western Cape: Cashcor (50); Deldew Estates (33,33); Easy Loans (40); Louhen Financial (33,33); Stelland Finansies (36,36). Eastern Cape: Entrepreneurial Development and Advice Centre (50); New World Finance (49); Q- Advances (33,33). All the BANKSETA Micro-Finance Skills Project loyalty programme points can be found on the website www.bankseta.org.za and click on the project. This month saw the end of Phase 2 Loyalty Programme updates and rewards will be handed out at regional certification ceremonies.

Enthusiasm for assessment process

Trainers are recording great enthusiasm from learners who want to be assessed despite difficulties often experienced in setting aside time for interviews and the assessment process.

Of the 724 MFI learners who expressed interest in being assessed, 306 were prepared for assessment. To date, 90 learners have been assessed competent. These include 26 in Gauteng, 39 in KwaZulu Natal, 9 in the Western Cape, 9 in the Eastern Cape and 7 in Mpumalanga.

SMME learners are also taking the opportunity to be assessed in their areas of training. So far, 465 learners have expressed an interest and 414 have been prepared for assessment. Of these, 288 have been assessed competent.

Business Network Sessions

Ongoing evaluation of the project has included a review of the Business Network Support sessions currently underway. Several changes have been proposed to ensure that the sessions and coaching have a visible impact on the companies which are participating.

The demand for BNS continues and during May these sessions were conducted with coaches. These have proved to be very successful, especially for SMMEs. Some individual one-on-one coaching sessions for MFIs are already underway in the five regions. Due to the numbers of participating SMMEs, the time necessary for individual coaching and the fact that SMMEs are in different stages of development, there will no longer be one-on-one SMME coaching sessions but these will continue in group format.

For more information, contact Cindy at Pure Innovation (021) 425 3890 or email [email protected] and [email protected].

Reminder

Have you booked to attend the Certification Ceremony? The dates are: Mpumalanga (June 10) KwaZulu-Natal (June 17) Western Cape (June 22) Gauteng (July 6)

Contact Khensani Mageza at [email protected] or Jean McKenzie at [email protected]. You can also call them at (011) 340-3800 or fax (011) 447-0029

Hope you enjoyed the success and the progress the project has achieved so far, till the next edition to celebrate Phase 3…