VZCZCXRO0573
PP RUEHGA RUEHHA RUEHQU RUEHVC
DE RUEHOT #3487/01 3322011
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 282011Z NOV 06
FM AMEMBASSY OTTAWA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 4522
INFO RUCNCAN/ALL CANADIAN POSTS COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHLM/AMEMBASSY COLOMBO PRIORITY 0284
RUEHCO/AMEMBASSY COTONOU PRIORITY 0040
RUEHBUL/AMEMBASSY KABUL PRIORITY 0093
RUEHMU/AMEMBASSY MANAGUA PRIORITY 0083
RUEHOU/AMEMBASSY OUAGADOUGOU PRIORITY 0117

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 OTTAWA 003487 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR WHA/CAN AND EB/IFD/ODF 
STATE PASS USAID/EGAT 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EAID ECON EFIN CA
SUBJECT: CANADA ANNOUNCES OVER C$40 MILLION IN MICROFINANCE 
PROJECTS IN SEVERAL LDCS 
 
 
 ¶1. (U) Summary: At the November 12 Global Microfinance 
Summit in Halifax, Canadian Foreign Minister Peter MacKay and 
International Cooperation Minister Josee Verner announced 
that Canada will provide more than C$40 million to three 
Canadian NGOs to help poor people in developing countries get 
access to formal financial services to improve their own 
economic and social well-being.  The FM said that "around the 
world, the power of microfinance is transforming lives" and 
noted that the Conservative government is a leader in 
microfinancing in Afghanistan to foster self-reliance. 
Minister Verner saw microfinance as "an important tool for 
development" since it gives poor people, especially women, 
the opportunity to access essential financial services so 
that they can start and build their own businesses and 
provide for their families.  End Summary. 
 
¶2. (U) The money will go to three Canadian NGOs with a track 
record in microfinancing initiatives.  Developpement 
international Desjardins (DID) will receive C$19.85 million 
to enhance access to financial services for the poor in 25 
African, Asian, and Latin American countries and for outreach 
activities in Canada.  Working with local partners, DID will 
focus on reducing poverty through increased access to 
financial services, especially for women.  DID has long 
cooperated with the Canadian International Development Agency 
(CIDA).  Institutions supported by CIDA and DID currently 
offer financial services that meet the needs of over 3 
million people and have over 6,000 employees, some C$750 
million in savings and assets of about C$1 billion.  DID will 
also receive C$1.3 million in support for the SANASA (Thrift 
and Credit Co-operative Movement in Sri Lanka)'s post-tsunami 
reconstruction and development efforts and the construction 
of houses and playgrounds; lending and credit line services 
for the most vulnerable; and reconstruction of financial data 
lost during the tsunami.  The project will help 75 to 80 
credit unions to restart their operations in the districts of 
Hambantota and Batticaloa.  Among the SANASA federation 
groups are 8,440 primary cooperatives with 858,000 members. 
DID's website is http://www.did.qc.ca.  Embassy note:  DID is 
a component of the Desjardin Group, an integrated financial 
cooperative offering banking, insurance, securities and 
investment services with over C$100 billion in assets.  It is 
the largest financial institution in Quebec.  End note. 
 
¶3. (U) Canadian Co-operative Association will receive C$19.5 
million to continue the work of the program entitled 
Sustainable Livelihoods through Cooperatives.  Among its 
activities, the program is developing and strengthening 
community-owned financial cooperatives to increase the 
self-reliance of communities, increasing food 
self-sufficiency and access to markets, and helping to 
develop locally controlled services to respond to the health, 
housing and educational needs of poor communities in 17 
African, Central Asian and South American countries.  The 
Association's website is http://www.coopscanada.coop/. 
 
¶4. (U) Oxfam-Quebec will receive nearly C$150,000 for 
microenterprise institutions in Burkina Faso and Benin.  The 
initiative aims to increase employment opportunities for 
youth aged 18-35 in these countries through the creation of 
Qyouth aged 18-35 in these countries through the creation of 
microenterprise institutions.  The project will also 
facilitate networking in the field of entrepreneurship among 
youth organizations in Benin, Burkina Faso, and Quebec.  In 
Burkina Faso, the project will work with two partner 
organizations and target approximately 200 youth, while in 
Benin, the project will work with 15 youth support groups and 
will aim at helping about 1,000 youth.  Oxfam-Quebec will 
also receive C$145,000 to improve microfinance services in 
the department of Esteli, Nicaragua, particularly for women. 
This initiative will improve access to financial services, 
increase agricultural productivity, and improve living 
conditions for workers.  Approximately 50 farm families 
(especially those headed by women) in the towns of Congeda 
and San Juan de Lamay will be reached by this project. 
Oxfam's website is http://www.oxfam.qc.ca/. 
 
¶5. (U) The new microfinance initiative builds on more than 30 
years of CIDA efforts to expand microfinance, especially for 
women, in the world's poorest countries.  CIDA funding 
initially supported the delivery of microcredit directly to 
the poor, but over time, its assistance has become focused 
more on the development of a wide range of microfinance 
providers such as cooperatives, credit unions, NGOs, non-bank 
 
OTTAWA 00003487  002 OF 002 
 
 
financial institutions, and banks that offer a wide range of 
financial services to the poor. 
 
¶6. (U) Averaging more than C$32 million a year over the last 
five years, CIDA's microfinance assistance has evolved with 
the growing self-sufficiency of microfinance institutions. 
The GoC believes that microfinance is helping bring the world 
closer to the Millennium Development Goal of cutting in half 
between 1990 and 2015 the proportion of people whose income 
is less than $1 a day.  One important success story for 
Canada's microfinance efforts is its over C$40 million 
contribution to the Microfinance Investment Support Facility 
for Afghanistan (MISFA), launched by the Afghan government in 
¶2003.  Canada is the facility's largest donor.  According to 
CIDA, MISFA now has more than 161,000 active loan clients, 73 
percent of whom are women, and 98 percent of the loans are 
repaid with interest.  Most loans have helped launch small 
retail businesses. 
 
 
 
Visit Canada's Classified Web Site at 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/wha/ottawa 
 
WILKINS