It is desirable for most practitioners to belong to a professional body of one kind or the other. The Zimbabwe Association of Microfinance Institutions (ZAMFI) is a body that represents the aspirations of microfinance institutions in Zimbabwe. It was formed in 1999 and has interacted at the highest levels locally, regionally and internationally. ZAMFI also serves not only as the spokesperson of the MFIs but as a critical link with all stakeholders, including the public, borrowing or otherwise.
ZAMFI desires to have all registered MFIs in Zimbabwe being members (of it). In countries like Ethiopia, Uganda etc all registered practitioners are members of the respective Associations.
In 2013 ZAMFI did a self selecting member segmentation and certification exercise. This will take pivotal role in 2014 going forward. The categories are platinum (being at the pinnacle) followed by gold, silver and bronze as illustrated in the pie charts below. Most members do now have the requisite certificates, implying that they are , professionally and not only legally, “safer to do business with” as they are bound by our Code of Ethics and have agreed to start on ethical behaviour up to and including consumer protection.
