sampark
Volume.1
From The Sidelines
“Unveil the Shakti within."
That‟s the message renowned econo-
mist and former Indian Ambassador
to the US, Padma Bhushan Dr Abid
Husain had to give IIFMites. In a
speech that marked the beginning of
the Institute's silver jubilee cele-
brations, Dr Hussian spoke about 60
years of Indian independence and the
road that lay ahead. Layered as the
speech was with deep spiritual wis-
dom and personal anecdotes, the
effect is difficult to recreate. How-
ever, here are the highlights -
Celebrating 60 years of a
country that is thousands of years
old: Many came and conquered our
land and our wealth, but India‟s spirit
remains unconquered. “We did it
from scratch,” is what Dr Hussain
had to say. India at the time of inde-
pendence, was an India whose people
suffered from poverty, illiteracy and
hunger. "The middle class today had
forefathers who were below the
poverty line. You and I are children
of forefathers
who have struggled
to establish them-
selves. Why can't
we do for the 600
million poor today
what we could do
for the 300 million
poor then?"
The spirit of India: “We
have in our veins, our body that spirit
of India that has always made it
great. The seeds are there, they just
need to be cultivated,” he said. Dr
Hussain gave the example of the
noble laureates from the US whose
research has been supported by
Indians, of our doctors whose healing
touch makes the sick and ailing fly
across the seven seas to receive
medical help in India, of the Industry
that is making its mark across the
world.
“When India rises, you
rise with it, when India falls you fall
with it. Think of India first, work to
make India first,” were his conclud-
ing words.
The IIFM newsletter
The Editor‟s Ennui...
Behold Sampark, yet again – the
connection point – which has always proved
to be a Sisyphean task to sustain… as also
to quell. That‟s how you see this idiotic
group of IIFMites burning away the mid-
night oil, not in gratifying acts of erudition,
but in unrequited efforts of article-
solicitation! You see, there‟s a general iner-
tia among human beings which resists ex-
traneous needs unless they transform into
motivators (implication intended!). We, the
poor members of the not-yet-formal Com-
munications Cell, don‟t have the resources
to dangle a carrot, and definitely can‟t
brandish a stick now, can we?
But there‟s a wide gamut of things
to be shared – by everyone – the faculty,
the alumni, and of course, the students.
Aren‟t we all interested in the various ar-
eas that alumni are working, their applica-
tions of IIFM learning? Aren‟t we all inter-
ested in knowing something more from the
faculty about their area of specialization,
beyond the academics? And finally, aren‟t
we all interested in the goings-on in the
campus and the various idiosyncrasies of
the students (like the e-wars which rup-
ture at the drop of a hat… Students might
be next-door neighbours, but fight they
have to on the webmail, while maintaining
cordial relations face-to-face!)? Now don‟t
say “No” just to spite me.
So here‟s Sampark… for each one
of you. You will see a reflection of your
ideas here, a new angle even. But for that,
YOU need to contribute... the clichéd time,
energy and resources. Most importantly,
your interest. Or else, be prepared for an
overdose of still more pertinacious re-
quests and drab-reading e-junk!
(Siddharth Iyer)
September,2007
Microfinance in Africa – Fuelling Growth
and Bridging Financing Gap
The main hurdle to growth in Af-
rica is financing gap. Millions of people do
not have access to services like deposits
and small loans, taken for granted in richer
countries. Those who do have access to
credit in Africa tend to be predictably
similar: international companies, multi-
lateral organizations, high end local organi-
zations, rich individuals and the public ser-
vants. To open an account, one needs to
deposit more than US$ 1000. However a
host of microfinance organizations in Af-
rica are helping to bridge the gap. The good
news is that they are growing in number.
Savings tend to make up the majority of
their business, with roughly three times as
many savers as borrowers, bucking the
global trend. East Africa dominates the
scene, with two large Ethiopian micro fi-
nancing institutions- The Amhara Credit
and Savings Union and the Debit Credit and
Savings Institutions, as well as the huge
Kenya Post Office and Savings Bank. South
Africa‟s TEBA Bank is the behemoth in
Southern Africa, its gross loan portfolio
accounting for nearly a quarter of out-
standing loans on the continent. West Af-
rica is well served by a significant number
of smaller organizations, while in North
Africa success stories like Morocco‟s Al
Amana have brought micro credit to the
forefront in the fight against poverty.
However there are some thorny
problems in African microfinancing. One is
the poor return on investment that these
organizations yield. Though financial reve-
nue is strong, the cost of running the op-
eration often bites too deep into profits.
For example, Indian Ocean MFIs. Have the
highest regional revenue of 28%. High op-
erating cost, however, bring the return on
the capital outlay
(… contd.)
Volume.1 Page 2

down to -3.3%. Why? The weak communication and trans- lined operations and higher profits, there are many com-
port infrastructure, high labour costs and a poorer rural mercial banks who are eyeing the market.
market all make it hard to breakeven, this is reflected by
The intellectual support for this was added by
the lack of global interest in the sector. Research in 2004
Prof. S L Hart and C K Prahalad‟s work on the business para-
by the CGAP (Consultative Group to Aid the Poor) found
digm of exploiting the developing markets found at the
that African MFIs attract only 6% of total global invest-
„bottom of pyramid‟. This has alarmed some, who suspect
ment from international financial institutions and privately
the motives of large corporations and the whole idea of
managed funds.
inclusive capitalism. In addition, there is a school of thought
Nevertheless, things are changing and many of the that claims it is not possible to act in a socially responsible
costs are being eroded by new technology. E-banking and and positive manner, while maintaining a viable commercial
branchless microfinance are being pioneered by TEBA bank edge. But there are outfits like ProCredit Bank, who manage
of South Africa, with terminals in remote village shops at not only to survive but to thrive on this challenge. These
which people can access their accounts. This means that an companies are using clear economies of scale present in the
account officer does not have to make the 200 km journey African market to overcome hurdles to profitability like
across difficult terrain and attend the weekly progress infrastructure and unlike many NGOs they have integrated
report, and bank doesn‟t have to create and maintain a new the deposits and credits sides of their operations.
building, with all the capital outlay that entails. Mobile
But there are some serious points which warrant
phone technology is being used to carry out simple banking
attention and everything is not rosy. Many of those who
transactions like SMS purchasing, and the Opportunity In-
have received micro-credit loans in the past have failed to
ternational Bank of Malawi has been using smartcards as an
utilize it properly. It is unfeasible to assume that everyone
efficient and reliable way of identifying customers, dis-
is a potential entrepreneur. More focus should be on those
pensing with paper work and speeding up the number of cus-
who have already proved that they have a flair for business
tomers that can be served by a banking official. The condi-
and have a small up and running operations as they have
tions of mobile phone growth across Africa are met, and
much greater potential to create jobs and trigger wide-
systems have already been tested and implemented.
spread economic development.
Something else that will help lower costs and
sharpen the profile of microfinance is the move towards
better regulations in the industry. Many MFIs in Uganda Santosh Singh (2006 Batch),
have taken advantage of new legislations to become regu- Currently working with CDF-IFMR, Chennai
lated financial entities. This makes sense for several rea-
sons. It allows them to take the money given in savings by
their clients and use it to finance the loans, one of the core
features of commercial banks. The Bank of Uganda has ap-
proved licenses for the four largest MFIs (FINCA, PRIDE,
UMA and Uganda Finance Trust). The success of these in-
stitutions is bound to attract big commercial banks to
downscale. The Sampark Team
Regulated MFIs in Africa grew form 51-66% in
terms of savers and borrowers between 2001 to 2003, ac-
cording to a survey by the Microfinance Exchange. The also Editor: Siddharth Iyer
maintained their profitability at over 3% while the African
average was negative at -0.6%. Regulated MFIs are also the
Core team: Aakansha Sethi,
most productive MFIs, with 177 borrowers and 202 savers
per staff members. Kanika Chandel, Rewasa, Shweta
The Vice President of the Asian Development Bank,
Bhagwat, Ashish Thekkekara,
Geert Van Der Linden, believes “Given the large and growing Mohan Reddy, Pankaj Chauhan,
demand, the only way to sufficiently increase the supply of Siddharth Iyer.
micro-finance is through commercialization.” So attracting
private sector is key. The graduate scheme at Pretoria is Send in your contributions to:
one example where useful African managerial talent is de-
Sampark.iifm@yahoo.co.in
veloped and used to bring information and experience to the
area, helping to turn successful, regulated MFIs into suc-
cessful commercial microfinance banks. Thus with stream-
Volume.1 Page 3

Thinking about you... “Sampark revived to build our social capital”

Sampark means “connection”, and we at IIFM want to

It isn‟t a new feeling and, yet
It has a strange freshness
Why, in spite of such a strong will
I find myself so helpless?
The passion which I feel for you
Has not been felt for ages.
Stronger it is than that for freedom
develop relations with everyone connected to it – to share the
happiness, sorrow, good, bad and ugly news. That‟s how Sampark
was launched initially and it garnered good response and feeling
among alumni and the students at campus. However, the fine
thread of relationship (in the word of Hindi Poet Rahim – Rahiman
dhaga prem ka) developed through Sampark somehow weakened.
Sharing the IIFM goings-on stopped. The same thing applied to
alumni whereabouts. A void was created. The present batch of
students, after realizing the significance of this relationship,
decided to extend the cord for re-bonding.

For the birds in cages.
With eyes bent towards the earth, you look like
A damsel from the skies.
It is truth that I seek, but it is to you
That my heart flies.
As I sit at my window staring at the evening star
It twinkles at me from the sky.
It reminds me, with all its beauty and enthusiasm,
Of that spark in your eye.
Do not you know, how much I desire
To hold your hand?
Even the crusaders desired less
To conquer the holy land.
I know that not all desires are fulfilled,
Nor all wishes are granted.
Yet, o my beloved! I confess that it is
Your love that I have always wanted.
(Rahul Bharadwaj-PFM‟08)
All those working in the management area know the im-
portance of social capital. It speaks of networks, norms and sanc-
tions in a community and among its members for reaping more
benefits with lesser transaction costs. So as one of the partners
in the relationship we again take a step forward to link ourselves
with you. The second element important in building relationships
is reciprocity: it is important that the other partner recipro-
cates with the same enthusiasm to build the bond. Scholars say
that the social capital grows in strength with use and decays if in
disuse. Social capital has three sub types: bonding, bridging and
linking. Sampark wishes to develop the bond of brotherhood,
build the bridge of friendship and link the development of indi-
viduals and the Institute together. So, I expect the alumni to
come forward and extend their support, contribution and guid-
ance to the student group working on Sampark at IIFM. Let us
develop an ever lasting bond through Sampark and prepare a sys-
tem that can sustain it for a long time.
I would like to inform our readers that our Institute is
taking steps to bring changes in the arena of academics and re-
search. Sampark will provide you with the opportunity to acquaint
yourself with it and share your perspectives. This is one of the
aims of Sampark. I congratulate all those involved in this effort
and wish them good luck.
Dr. Amitabh Pandey, Chairperson, SAAC

Teejan Bai @ the

Welcome Nite
SPICMACAY
for the freshers evening

Rappelling in Our new class-

room!!!
full swing!
Volume.1 Page 4
All for 6 Indians….!!! System…But, seriously….

I never realized that 6 Indians could have such a
huge impact on one evening of my life. Nor did I realize get-
ting 8 Indians together could be such a Herculean task. If
you‟re wondering what the reason behind my woes is- here
goes my story-
I am currently working with Olam International and
am placed at Quelimane, Mozambique. While the name‟s ex-
otic- the town is very small. The pollution is negligible-
which is a good thing, but so is the population- which is not
such a good thing- as I was to discover one evening.
Since entertainment is restricted to office, TV (where we
get 5 Indian channels) and occasional movies at the theatre
(which thanks to I don‟t know who plays Hindi movies, good
ol‟ Bollywood after all ) - after a long day at work, my boss
suggested going for the new movie (new by our standards,
since movies that are 6 months old are played)
The movie‟s name was "Fool n Final", whose deeper
connotation we were to discover at the end of the evening.
We rushed for the lone show which was to start at 8:30
p.m., got into the „lets watch a movie mode‟- read buying
popcorn tickets and juice and settled down in our seats.
Then we waited...and waited. The blank screen which should
have burst into colour and music mockingly looked down on
us. We started looking around hoping to locate the problem.
It was then that a guy from the ticket counter
came up to us with a face sad enough to
match Meena Kumari‟s, returned our
money, and said that there would be no
screening that day!
The reason? Their screening cri- teria,
which required at least 8 people for a show, while we were
only 3! Surprised, we started looking for the 3rd guy and
found him to be a native, just out for fun!
Saddened, but not demoralized, we moved to an indoor sta-
dium – Benefica – to have a look at the football game which
was in progress between the local Asians and natives. Our
interest aroused, we sat there and started enjoying our
popcorn and juice.
Sadly, the Asians lost the match... We returned
home... Watched a bit of „Darna Manaa Hai‟ on B4U Movies...
And slept. So I guess a horror movie was a perfect end to a
sad but eventful day here at Quelimane! Hope the next out-
ing to a theatre sees more viewers!
Initially, I was astonished to know that my Commu-
nication Cell members wanted me to write something for
something called Sampark! (don‟t miss the something.) I
mean, I am there in this team but they know that all I know
is that such a team exists! What we (they) do? How we
(they) do it? And why we (they) do it? I don‟t know!!!
But there must probably be something worthwhile
in me despite the fact that there exists a whole concept
dedicated to me in B.O. called “Social Loafing” (I hate the
loafing part in the name, though!). I think people involved in
this holy act (Social @£$ %^&*) generally have all the time
on Earth to observe, and therefore always have something
to write (even though pushed to do so).
Take this committee for instance- my keen…or not
so keen observation has revealed the following- Aakansha
and Ashish are always very excited about all meetings and
have so many ideas (in fact Ashish is all about ideas: he can
write a “101 ways to…” series on anything under the sun! I
make sure I am not in their sight because when you are ide-
ating, seeing someone yawn is a bad omen!
Apart from accepting and rejecting the hypotheses
given by the above mentioned creatures, Rewasa acts as the
discipline in-charge. Every 20 seconds she tells one of us
that you are going to get hit! (I ensure that there isn‟t any-
thing like a paperweight near her). Siddharth actually suf-
fers from a constipation of ideas! He always has an expres-
s i o n similar to having something to say, but being
stopped by some evil force
(at least he has something to
say)!
Mohan is fascinated with
PowerPoint and believes that every inter- and intra-planet
information exchange should take place through PowerPoint
presentations only! So, if you also get a PowerPoint presen-
tation with this copy of Sampark, direct the curses to
Mohan alone! For everything else , we (they) are collectively
responsible….
Pankaj S. Chauhan
a.k.a Omi Bhaiya
PFM „09

Rishi Prakash (2007 Batch),

Currently working with Olam International , Mozambique.

Alumni!!
Get geared for an alumni meet on the 25th
and 26th of Jan 08.
More information to follow later...
Volume.1 Page 5

n, Sir
t t o be broke ou can r’s
say
m e a n h e n y
a re ar w ache
Rules n the ye un it is. Te
only d
a y i t f te in
d wha s participa und
It’s the teacher- an e r o
a mem b an ar
this to w faculty t e a chers r ebel,” we
sa the a r
Day .” As - I’m . The
s i ca l chairs ose Control co u ld get
“mu B s “ L i n g s e sure
r s t o RD e t i t i ve th si r mad
cha i com p VR S e top.
a w ju st how D sir and C to get to th t to
s s, Y nturn
ed
are me
an
unner
frontr n o s tone u was, “Rules
eft y
they l we had to sa
e l l , all
W
en!”
be brok

A True Sport grab a seat

in
e a pa rt ic ip ant failed to e g am e,
Every tim out of th
l ch ai rs an d was sent rk is a fo-
musica ask”. Sam pa
perform a “t the risk of
they had to ght, but at
Spicy news @ IIFM...

n t th ou
rum for inde
pe n de Prof Biswas
ha ve to say that ed
favouritism
, w e e. When ask
K S in ha took the cak pi n g in
and Prof V ught n ap
w ou ld do if he was ca pi n g, I w as
what he “ I wasn’t n ap
in ha sa id , d si r
class, Prof S in min
g ht !” (W e’ ll keep that w as si r
in deep thou ass). Bis
sl u m be r hi ts in your cl Y D si r
with
- next time motion as
in to n in slow th at ’s
i n d is But played ba dm
nde hum” N ow
the m nd. aalik tere ba
gore
? here s a lege Rabin- sang “E m
T a , “W ’ a true sport.
t’s w
ith assic man y is de- what we call
Wha a g o re cl ree the his- wh . On In ic
he T e a g is t IIFM lass
e l ove t ” and w erstand rite at te this c reak
W d ou ci b
fear… t un h a fav people re ive us a igh,
out we don’ s u c r e e . G s o h
re th ay n r
what th Tago we had n the d siasm ra e of fou
a n a a y , e s i t hu a n c o u t.
dr D im n m
e n d ence fferent t n’t all. E g perfor nudged
p
ree d
i as ingi
n ly
at w teral
at th And th group s were li
s ! a es
guy uring e on
a t d w o petit
t h t
, the
girls .people!
.
Easy

And the
others…
And then
there are
are pass o
é, its e-m ther things that
to make, ail wars deserve a
especiall that are mention
in, at lea …
The Wel
come an
y if the
point pro st at IIFM guns and bullet
it- the sp d Thank ves someo . If you s
icier part sgiving ne else w have a p
s of them p a rt ies have r o n g, send oin t
are sever are not a to a
column
al others
…but it’s ppropriate be mentioned. B mail!!
to be cen only the to be men ut that’s
sored. M f tio
out for m
asala to eanwhile. irst issue guys… ned here . There
report.. .watch o w e don’t w
ut..we are ant the
always
on the lo
ok

See you next month…!