East African Business Week

BUJUMBURA, BURUNDI - The Second Vice President of Burundi, Dr. Eng. Gervais Rufyikiri has called upon African governments to take measures to reduce public expenditure in a bid to avoid budget austerity measures that only slow down the creation of employment and economic growth.
This call was contained in statements he made during the official launch of the activities of the 10th Annual Conference and General Assembly of Africa Microfinance Network (AFMIN) which took place at Club du Lac Tanganyika hotel, on 10th October 2011, in Bujumbura, Burundi. The conference discussed the current challenges regarding the provision of microfinance institutions in the fight against the poverty of African population.
The main objective of the conference was to bring together various stakeholders including practitioners of microfinance, banks, policy makers and development partners to share lessons learned from the global crisis and to propose innovative ideas for the development of microfinance institutions in Africa.
The Second Vice President declared that microfinance institutions play a significant role in the development of nations. Nevertheless, he noted that the very high interest rates charged by microfinance remain a major concern that should be discussed as its mission is to help partner societies to better serve beneficiary customers, which is mainly the rural population.
He went on mentioning that globalization, trade liberalization, monetary and financial are the major challenges of this century that today's world financial crisis is seen as dramatic since the Great Depression of 1929.
Dr. Gervais Rufyikiri revealed that the Government of Burundi has integrated the role of the microfinance in economic growth and poverty reduction by the implementation of a series of measures and policies in order to promote the sector.