European Microfinance Week 2019

The European Microfinance Week was closed by e-MFP’s Chairwoman, Laura HEMRIKA. She thanked the speakers and audience for the closing plenary and discussion, and reflected on the past week. Hemrika emphasised the high-energy and non-stop rhythm of this year’s conference, with a lot of thought-provoking and inspiring conversations. 

Regarding the theme of the 2019 European Microfinance Award “Strengthening Resilience to Climate Change”, Hemrika admitted her initial concern in bringing two such big subjects together, climate change and financial inclusion, while covering them in a compelling and effective way. She commented on how effectively this was achieved during the conference, starting off strongly by putting the human face in the centre. Hemrika also emphasised that the different sessions revealed how connected the financial inclusion sector is to climate change and resilience, allowing us to see how much we are, and must be, part of the solution. Hemrika also brought attention to the 10th European Microfinance Award, which showed us that the financial inclusion sector is very capable of creating solutions. She congratulated APA for winning the award, and the finalists FDL and ASKI for their important work. 

In her final words, Hemrika reminded the audience that the 2019 edition of the Financial Inclusion Compass, which highlights the key trends of the industry, is available. She then reiterated the theme of the 2020 edition of the European Microfinance Award: Savings.

Hemrika concluded the conference with a special thanks to all the members, speakers, moderators and guests for sharing their expertise, commitment and time. She also thanked the staff of the Abbaye de Neumünster and the translators. Finally, she gave special thanks to the e-MFP team for their exceptional work and to the EMW’s sponsors.