Mozambique Data Launch

LANCASTER, PA, USA February 6, 2012

On February 6, 2012 MFTransparency will unveil the microloan pricing data collected as part of the Transparent Pricing Initiative in Mozambique. Concluding months of research and analysis, MFTransparency will present transparent prices for microloans offered in Mozambique, information never before available.

Mozambique is the eighth country in the enabling APR & EIR Program – a client protection effort of unprecedented scale in Africa, raising awareness of transparent pricing issues in Malawi, Uganda, Rwanda, Ghana, Tanzania, Zambia and Mozambique.

MFTransparency pricing experts will address the following topics in recorded webinars, available by download from the website, www.mftransparency.org:

• Pricing dynamics in the Mozambican microfinance market: Using actual pricing data collected from microfinance institutions in Mozambique, MFTransparency pricing experts will present their analysis of pricing of microloans in the context of Mozambican microfinance market characteristics.
• Recommendations: MFTransparency CEO Chuck Waterfield will present a series of recommendations tailored to the Mozambican market context, including loan documentation, loan officer interactions with borrowers and price-setting policy decisions for maximum transparency.
• Discussion of the results of the Initiative: This recorded webinar will provide a unique opportunity for stakeholders of the Mozambican microfinance market, as well as the international microfinance industry, to view the results of the Transparent Pricing Initiative in the country and write in with their queries.

About the enabling APR & EIR Program

The Transparent Pricing Initiative in Mozambique is part of a broader project funded by the MasterCard Foundation and known as the enabling APR & EIR Program (enabling Africa to Price Responsibly & Educate on Interest Rates). This project began in August 2010 with Malawi and continued with Uganda, Rwanda, South Africa, Ghana, Tanzania, Zambia and Mozambique. In each of these countries, MFTransparency collects and publishes data on the interest and fees charged on microfinance loan products in order to calculate their accurate, true prices (Effective Interest Rates). As part of the enabling APR & EIR Program, MFTransparency also conducts training seminars, offers technical assistance to financial institutions, facilitates discussion on policy for pricing disclosure and client protection and produces educational materials tailored to the specific needs of different stakeholder groups, including financial education programs for borrowers.

About MFTransparency

MicroFinance Transparency is an international non-governmental organization founded in 2008 with the purpose of facilitating transparent markets through pricing disclosure, education and policy advisory. MFTransparency represents an industry movement toward transparent practices and responsibility. Based in the United States, the group has organized transparent pricing efforts in nearly 30 countries on four continents, including 16 countries across Sub-Saharan Africa. Grameen Bank’s Dr. Muhammad Yunus and Elizabeth Littlefield, former CEO of CGAP, as well as more than 870 industry professionals and organizations have committed to transparent pricing by endorsing MFTransparency and its initiative. For information on MFTransparency staff, please see Who We Are.

For questions relating to this press release please contact:

Hélia Dezimahata Lory Nsthandoca
MFTransparency
[email protected]

Victor Ignacio Valido Vilela
MFTransparency
[email protected]