Our Profile

The Micro Enterprise and Financial Inclusion (MEFI), referred to as “MEFI” was established in 2014 as a result of a felt need to fill in the knowledge and technical gap for microfinance institutions, micro- small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and agro-enterprise sector in the Southern Africa region through a long-term institutional approach.

MEFI offer courses with local and international content to prepare its clients to take advantage of opportunities offered by regional markets. This is done through modular and customized tailor-made courses for professional students and institutional clients. MEFI brings together a team of experts and practitioners (both local and international) and provides a learning platform with credible and internationally recognized courses.  MEFI is a unique Centre on the professional and education landscape as it links theory and practice, concept and experience, in an interactive class room environment mixed with field experience and a unique focus on microfinance and enterprise development. MEFI trainers and consultants bring together a mix of local and international experience and expertise in microfinance; value-chain financing; banking; microenterprise, business development, corporate governance and other auxiliary non-financial services that benefit the financial services sector.

Work Accomplished So Far

• 2017 to 2018 – Market Research and Development of Savings Products for Vision Fund Micro Finance Bank in Zambia
• 2017 – UNCDF Programme for Refugees -Training Workshop on Savings Group Methodologies for implementing organizations in Kasulu/Nyarugusu Camps, Tanzania.
• 2017 – Financial Education (FED) TOT workshop for Feed the Children staff in Kenya
• 2017-Training to Rural Finance Institution Building (RUFIN) Nigeria staff on Project Cycle Management (PCM)
• 2017- Consultancy for TOT training  on Savings Groups Programme Management to Trocaire partner staffs in Meru
• 2016- Consultancy for TOT trainings on VSLA and MIS to Concern Worldwide Somalia staff
• 2015-Consultancy for trainings on SILC and MIS to Caritas Marsabit staff
• 2015- Consultancy for trainings on SILC/VSLA and MIS to JICA consortium in Marsabit county
• 2014- Convener of the 2014 New Hampshire University (Carsey Institute)/Mastercard SMDP- Savings Groups/MIS workshop in Mombasa, Kenya with representation from 12 African countries.
• 2011- Consultancy for TOT on SPM (Selection, Planning and Management of IGAs) to Grace Africa staff.
• 2010- Training on SILC to G.R.A.C.E Africa and CBO partner staff in Nyanza, Central and Eastern Provinces.

• 2008- Consultancy for Village Community Banks (VICOBA/SILC) training to PISP Program staff and partners in Northern Kenya.

• 2008 – Consultancy for VSL training to VSF Germany staff in Upper Nile State, South Sudan.
• 2008- Consultancy for TOT on SPM (Selection, Planning and Management of IGAs) to DMI AND ICRD consortium staff.
• 2007- Consultancy for trainings on VSLA and MIS to CEFA in Homabay County
• 2006 – Evaluation of PLAN Homabay Savings and Loans (VSLA) project.

• 2006- Consultancy for CMMF (SILC/VSLA) training to DMI and ICRD consortiums in Kenya and Uganda respectively (VSF Belgium, VSF Germany, OXFAM, ACTED, Practical Action and VSF Switzerland).

• 2004-2006 – Consultancy for Savings Groups trainings to PLAN
• 2003- Documentation of Christian Children Funds’s ECD/HIV projects in Nyanza province, Kenya.

MEFI stands out as we go beyond the horizon; we beat tradition. We do not only offer training and consultancy services but we create professional networks for different classes of professionals. The networks meet regularly to brainstorm policy and economic issues affecting their sector including emerging practices in technology. For our institutional clients, MEFI provides a frontline where synergies are created hence new business partnerships are created through strategic alliances and linkages that add client value as well as increasing market share. We regularly publish a list of professionals in the sector that falls within our scope and work with employers to have passionate business-minded professionals ready to deliver on institutional goals.

MEFI Assistance

MEFI provides through Leadership & Management Program offers assistance on a variety of projects for nonprofit organizations in the following areas:

• Advocacy
• Board Manual or Board Recruitment Plan
• Community Organizing Strategy
• Framework for Ethical Decision-making – Tailored to your organization
• Fundraising Plan for a Nonprofit Organization
• Governance and Policy Projects – Creating or re-writing governance documents such as by-laws and board manuals. Creating or updating policy documents such as: conflict of interest, whistleblower policy, compensation determination policy, gift acceptance policy, document retention and destruction, investment policy.
• Organizational Performance Audit – Using a national set of evaluation standards.
• Related Business Development for Nonprofit Organization
• Research pertaining to a Strategic Planning Process- Including items such as trend analysis, internal management audit, constituent surveys, focus groups, benchmarking performance against similar organizations, etc.
• Researched-based Nonprofit Program Proposal – With social marketing plan and evaluation component built into the program design.

**Please note: Compensation is negotiable as per project  depending on the organization. We are happy to answer any questions you have regarding our programs and the opportunities it affords your organization. Please contact our office at (+254) 733502440 or contact@mefiassociates.net or contact Silvester Kobare: skobare@gmail.com You may also visit our website at www.mefiassociates.net  to learn more about us

Capacity Building

Capacity building is fundamentally about improving effectiveness at the organizational level. Nonprofit organizations are justly admired for their passionate commitment to mission and their inventive approaches to addressing urgent social problems. Around the world, nonprofits are implementing programs that are improving the quality of life for tens of millions of people, and they are often doing so against extreme odds and with very limited resources. The success that nonprofits have demonstrated in addressing social issues has generated increased demand for their services. Government is increasingly turning to nonprofits as potential service providers and partners in tackling our most pressing social issues. We now recognize that most of these issues – such as hunger, homelessness, or environmental conservation – will not be “solved” in our lifetime, and therefore will require strong organizations to continue to address them. Nonprofits have an obligation to seek new and ever more effective ways of making tangible progress toward their missions, and this requires building organizational capacity. All too many nonprofits, however, focus on creating new programs and keeping administrative costs low instead of building the organizational capacity necessary to achieve their aspirations effectively and efficiently. This is not surprising, given that donors and funders have traditionally been more interested in supporting an exciting new idea than in building an organization that can effectively carry out that idea. This must change; both nonprofit managers and those that fund them must recognize that excellence in programmatic innovation and implementation are insufficient for nonprofits to achieve lasting results. Great programs need great organizations behind them. As we normally say, the only way to build a great organization is to build capacity

If building capacity is vital to the long-term health and effectiveness of nonprofit institutions, both large and small, how then can we determine the capacity gaps of a particular nonprofit? Are there common threads, common issues, and a common framework for assessing capacity that cut across the full spectrum of nonprofit activity? Capacity is one of those words that mean all things to all people, and nonprofits have approached and interpreted capacity building in many different ways. As a starting point, therefore, the team uses a “Capacity Framework” to provide a common vision and vocabulary for nonprofit capacity. The Capacity Framework defines nonprofit capacity in a pyramid of seven essential elements: three higher-level elements – aspirations, strategy, and organizational skills – three foundational elements – systems and infrastructure, human resources, and organizational structure – and a cultural element which serves to connect all the others. The team defined these elements as follows:

■ Aspirations: An organization’s mission, vision, and overarching goals, which collectively articulate its common sense of purpose and direction

■ Strategy: The coherent set of actions and programs aimed at fulfilling the organization’s overarching goals

■ Organizational Skills: The sum of the organization’s capabilities, including such things (among others) as performance measurement, planning, resource management, and external relationship building

■ Human Resources: The collective capabilities, experiences, potential and commitment of the organization’s board, management team, staff, and volunteers

■ Systems and Infrastructure: The organization’s planning, decision making, knowledge management, and administrative systems, as well as the physical and technological assets that support the organization

■ Organizational Structure: The combination of governance, organizational design, inter-functional coordination, and individual job descriptions that shapes the organization’s legal and management structure

■ Culture: The connective tissue that binds together the organization, including shared values and practices, behavior norms, and most important, the organization’s orientation towards performance. By combining all the different elements of organizational capacity in a single, coherent diagram, the pyramid emphasizes the importance of examining each element both individually and in relation to the other elements, as well as in context of the whole enterprise. These emphases reflect a key finding of the research: many nonprofits tend to think capacity building is limited to “technical assistance” or improving the effectiveness of functions at the bottom of the pyramid – human resources or organizational structure, for example. In fact, the case studies suggest that the greatest gains in social impact came when organizations engaged in capacity building efforts that were aligned within the pyramid.

Community Capacity Building

The Community Capacity Building component assists groups by enhancing skills essential to regional economic planning, development and implementation. The component offers capacity building modules, planning sessions, and industry development sessions to interested stakeholders with a clear link to economic and business development.

The objectives are:

• To enable community-based economic development organizations to assume the role of partners in regional economic development
• To deliver a comprehensive orientation program designed to help build and shape communities; and
• To encourage collaboration and broad-based partnerships.

Advocacy

• Advocacy is a targeted process of influencing holders of power to arrive at decisions or policies and laws that benefit the poor, vulnerable and marginalized. (Kenyan Civil Society Strengthening Program Working Definition)
• A deliberate process of influencing those who make decisions about developing, changing and implementing policies
• Influencing – targets decision makers; decision makers are those who have the ability to legislate, negotiate or set budgets relating to formal public policies
• Decision makers may not be the same as power holders – decisions can be heavily influenced by those who hold formal and informal power in society including business, the media, religious leaders and social movements amongst others
• Developing, changing and implementing policies – policies can be outdated, hostile or non-existent, and as such, some change to them is required
• In other cases policies may be perfect on paper but are not being implemented. In such a case advocacy focuses on trying to get the policies enacted.