Asia
Project Name: Technical Twinning Program
Client Name: Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam (Vietcombank)
Location: Vietnam
Description of Work:
The objective of this World Bank project was to support Vietcombank in implementing its restructuring plan, improving its financial condition and practices, as well as improving its organization, operations and overall performance. These goals were achieved via technical twinning assistance in the areas of treasury management, risk management, internal audit, problem loan resolution, information technology, financial controls, strategic planning, marketing, organizational development, human resource management, and management and staff training.
Engagement involved reviewing the Bank’s human resource function; including the Bank’s remuneration practices, in order to establish an effective remuneration and reward system reflecting performance evaluations and job grading; reviewing of the Bank’s performance evaluation procedures; as well as recommending policies and procedures relating to recruitment, training, management and career development, and succession planning; remuneration; organizational structure reform; and the formulation of a modern human resources department.
Project Name: TA Cluster for Rural Financial Development
Client Name: Agriculture Promotion Bank (APB)
Location: Lao, PDR
Description of Work:
The objective of this Asian Development Bank funded project was to buttress the restructuring of APB by an institution building program aimed at building permanent capacity in APB. Governance, planning, organizational design, human resource management, loan portfolio restructuring, pricing, products development, and credit policies and procedures initiatives undertaken to assist APB in its efforts to apply recognized financial sector best practices.
Engagement included organizational and human resource management initiatives designed to rationalize APB’s operations, which included refining Board responsibilities and appointing additional directors; carrying out internal organizational restructuring; preparing comprehensive departmental mandates and job descriptions; developing a performance assessment system; reassigning the internal audit function to report to the Board; establishing a Training Division to implement the training plan addressing the needs entailed within the job descriptions reflecting the restructured APB.
Project Name: Strengthening Corporate Governance Project
Client Name: Vietnam Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (VBARD)
Location: Vietnam
Description of Work:
The objective of this Asian Development Bank funded project was to strengthen VBARD’s performance and competitiveness in operating in an market-based economy by strengthening the bank’s corporate planning and risk management capacity, diversifying the bank’s products and services, enhancing the bank’s loan management and credit appraisal techniques, and enhancing the bank’s human resource and training management.
Engagement involved reviewing VBARD’s training methods and materials and formulating recommendations on how to enhance training effectiveness, as well as reviewing VBARD’s training needs and formulating a structured curriculum that addresses requirements for information dissemination, job skills, and continuous management professional development.
Engagement also included reviewing VBARD’s recruitment, remuneration and benefits, performance appraisal, promotion, and training policies, and formulating recommendations on how to improve them, consistent with the corporate plan objectives. Engagement culminated in the developing and delivery of a two-day workshop on the best practices in training and personnel management.
Project Name: Consultancy Services for a Corporate Strategy
Client Name: DFCC (Development Finance Corporation of Ceylon)
Location: Sri Lanka
Description of Work:
The objective of the project was to assist DFCC in advancing a corporate strategy that would distinguish its products and services, thereby providing DFCC a competitive advantage.
Assessed and recommended enhancement to DFCC’s corporate structure, as well as corporate positions and reporting.
Developed recommendations for improving the management of DFCC’s human resources, which facilitated improvements in the services provided.
Recommended short and long-term human resource tactics needed to implement corporation’s overall strategic plan.
Project Name: Financial Sector Development Project
Client Name: Bank of Communication/ World Bank
Location: Peoples Republic of China
Description of Work:
The objective of this World Bank-sponsored project was to strengthen the bank’s competitive position inside and outside China by designing a balanced training curriculum and developing the bank’s human resource strategic plan. The assignment included: overall assessment of human resource development needs; preparation of a human resource development strategy that prioritized training needs and recommended appropriate compensation and career development policies; development of a core curriculum that addressed immediate, mid-term and long-term training activities; and delivery of two priority courses that addressed the client’s most urgent training needs.
Project Name: Indonesia Equitization and Restructuring Project
Client Name: Asian Development Bank
Location: Indonesia
Description of Work:
The objective of this project was to provide Indonesian entrepreneurs the tools to assess the relative market position of their enterprise and to develop strategies and tactics needed to compete effectively in a market-based economy.
Designed and conducted a three-day training program entitled, “An Overview of Strategic Corporate Restructuring.” The course included presentations on restructuring and reorienting indigenous private sector enterprises in order to compete effectively in a market-based economy.
Caribbean and Central America
Project Name: Micro/Small Business Enterprise Training Program
Client Name: United States Agency for International Development (USAID)
Location: Jamaica
Description of Work:
The objective of this project was to strengthen the capacity local SME lenders and Microfinance Institutions in Jamaica, by introducing a standard for defining micro and small enterprises, highlighting the similarities and differences between the two types of enterprises based on such factors as size (employees, revenues and assets), investment in assets, sophistication of management and the availability of financial information. During the programs, different models (minimalist vs. traditional) used in assessing risk, extending loans and monitoring exposure were introduced. In addition, the sustainability of a lending institution’s operations was addressed by assessing the institution’s profitability, portfolio quality and capital adequacy ratios.
Designed and delivered two workshops for micro and SME lenders, that focused on special issues encountered in lending to micro and small and medium size enterprises, and leveraging best practices from around the world.
Europe and Central Asia
Project Name: Ukrainian Restructuring Program
Client Name: United States Agency for International Development (USAID)
Location: Ukraine
Description of Work:
The objective of this project was to provide indigenous Ukrainian consulting firms with the marketing and operating tools necessary compete effectively in the Ukrainian and global consulting industries, and meet the needs of their clients in a profitably manner.
Designed and conducted a two-day training program for the Ukrainian Consulting Industry. The training program addressed such topics as assessing market segments, establishing brands, skills assessment, SWOT analysis, competitor analysis, and developing and setting consulting fees.
Participated in the development of an innovative interactive CD-ROM training tool for managers of Ukrainian SMEs. The CD-ROM was designed enable SME managers to restructure and reorganize their operations in order to compete effectively in a market- based economy. The 30 modules CD-ROM training tool covered such topics as Strategic Planning, Marketing Planning, Finance and Controls, Operations and Organizational Structures.
North America
Project Name: Development, Marketing, and Delivery of Training Programs for Community Development Professionals
Client: Community Development Financial Institution Fund (CDFI) an agency of the US Treasury Department
Locations: Cleveland, OH; Dallas, TX; Honolulu, HI; New York, NY; Phoenix, AR; Richmond, VA
Description of Work:
Engagement involved developing, marketing, and delivering two training programs (entitled “Demystifying and Developing Financial Projections of a Community Development Lending Program” and “Developing and Operating a Community Development Lending Program”) to community development financial institutions serving rural, urban, and Native American communities in the United States.
Courses addressed such topics as the tools required to understand and develop financial statements of not-for profit community development financial institutions; developing and appraising assumptions for financial projections of CDFIs; calculating key financial ratios to measure performance of the CDFI; developing budgets to assess viability and sustainability of a CDFI; topics as the tools required to design and operate an effective and efficient community based lending programs that meets the needs of the target market; determining the best loan products and services for their target community; effectively marketing the lending programs; measuring the programmatic impact on target community; and monitoring the loans and portfolio.
Sub-Saharan Africa
Project Name: Roundtable on Women ad Agricultural Finance Seminar
Client: Graca Marcel Trust and New Faces New Voices
Location: Johannesburg, South Africa
Description of Work:
A goal of the Graca Marcel Trust is to expand the role and influence of Africa women in the financial sector and gain access to credit.
Engaged to design and facilitate a special session on Agricultural Finance for African Women. The training goals were to provide the attendees with tools to unlock opportunities for the financing of African women-owned agri enterprises.
The presentation covered topics on Overcoming Agribusiness constraints, Overcoming Women-Owned business constraints, the Impact of Gender Inequality on Governments, Communities, and the Economy, Sources of Financing for Women Owned businesses, Why the Value Chain Approach Works? What are the Tools for Using the Value Chain Approach, the Government’s Role for Solutions, and Financial Institutions Role in Solutions?
Project Name: Ethiopia Agricultural Growth Program-Livestock Market Development Program
Client: United States Agency for International Development (USAID)
Location: Addis Abba, Tigray, SNNPR, Oromia, and Amhara, Ethiopia
Description of Work:
The goal of this USAID Agricultural Growth Program for Livestock Market Development Project (AGP-LMD) was to improve productivity, competitiveness and profitability within the dairy and live animal value chains in Ethiopia by utilizing the M4P Approach. The M4P Approach focuses on changing the structure and characteristics of markets to increase participation by poorer value chain players on terms that benefit them.
Following an assessment of the financing environment and opportunities for the livestock value chain participants, a targeted value chain training program was designed and conducted for the various actors within the livestock value chain. The participants uniquely included direct members of the value chain including farmers/producers, animal food suppliers, transporters, veterinarians, abattoir owners, traders and food processors; government officials; and various types lenders involved in financing the livestock value chain. The combination of value chain actors, government officials and lenders were a rare opportunity for all to the critical players for building a building a successful value chain to interact and propose solutions for improving the livestock value chain in Ethiopia.
Topics presented in this specially designed training included: introduction of value chain concepts, M4P approach to value chain support; value chain financing concepts and value chain financing instruments. The training was conducted throughout Ethiopia in the Addis Ababa, Oromia, Amhara (Bahir Dar and Gondar), SNNPR and Tigray regions of Ethiopia.
Project Name: Livelihood Enhancement through Agricultural Development Program (LEAD)
Client: BRAC-Tanzania
Location: Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania
Description of Work:
The objective of the project was to identify the key financial needs of the participant within the maize and poultry value chains. The work included utilizing the M4P approach to assess the value chain intervention needs, evaluate the financing needs and gaps across the various value chain participants in order to inform the development of new financial products for BRAC.
Several new financial products were developed to support the LEAD program and enable the value chain actor to make needed investments.
Project Name: East Africa Technical Assistance Program
Client: European Investment Bank (EIB)
Location: Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda
Description of Work:
Engaged to conduct a survey of twenty-four of the European Investment Bank’s partner financial institutions to determine their appetite for agri financing in Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda. The assignment involved constructing a questionnaire and conducting interviews with each of the financial institutions seeking information regarding on the following: current loan portfolio exposures in the sector, quality of the portfolios, value chains of focus, and plans for either expanding or contracting their exposures to the agri sector.
The results of the study were to be used to assist EIB in directing their focus to further develop capacity building and /or funding assistance to its partner financial institutions, interested in developing their respective agriculture sectors.
DKG Access to Credit and Banking Services (read more)
DKG Financial and Structural Reform Engagements (read more)