Credit Skills Training Institute (CSTI)
Find out if you qualify to attend FREE training at CSTI!
30-JUN-08
The MFMI (Microfinance Management Institute) network, of which CSTI (Credit Skills Training Institute) is a member, was recently selected by the MasterCard Foundation as one of six organisational recipients of its 2008 Scholars’ Program funding.

With this grant, the MFMI will provide funding through CSTI so that microfinance practitioners of SA can attend industry training.

Which CSTI courses have been approved by the MFMI?

• Loan Collection and Management:
  • Credit Control and Collections
  • Manage Loan Portfolios
• Responsible Lending Awareness Training
  • Legal Framework for Consumer Credit Management
• Introduction to Credit Management
• Fraud Prevention and Monitoring
• Credit Assessment Practices and Methodologies

How do I know if I qualify?

MasterCard Foundation and MFMI have established the following application criteria for interested candidates. Any person interested in receiving MasterCard Foundation Scholars’ Program funding to attend an MFMI-approved course must comply with the following criteria:

• Be a microfinance practitioner who is currently working for a microfinance institution, who disburses loans to non-salary earners with the goal of establishing community development in SA.
• Demonstrate a minimum of 3 years of experience in microfinance and a minimum of 1 year of experience with his/her current microfinance employer.
• Currently have some level of management responsibility for other people within his/her microfinance institution (middle and senior level managers are ideal).
• Be willing to provide all of the information requested in the MasterCard Foundation Scholars’ Program application.
• Be agreeable to communicating with the MFMI about his/her learning experience after participating in the MFMI-approved training course.
• May not receive more than 1 award within a 12-month period from the MasterCard Foundation Scholars’ Program funding.
• In addition to these criteria, there is a less tangible requirement: the practitioner’s microfinance institution employer must be a promising organisation that will benefit from having a portion of the participant’s capacity-building costs subsidised.

What must I do to apply?

Please contact CSTI at 021 8886000

How does the application process work?

• The candidate submits: a) a course application/registration form for the desired MFMI-approved event, and b) the MasterCard Foundation Scholars’ Program application form, directly to CSTI.
• The candidate’s complete application form will then reviewed by CSTI.
• CSTI will then submit the assessment of the candidate and his/her scholarship eligibility, as well as a complete copy of the application, to the MFMI representatives
• The MFMI will review CSTI’s recommendation and the candidate’s MasterCard Foundation Scholars’ Program application.
• The MFMI will then inform CSTI, as well as the candidate, of their final decision within 2 weeks after having received the complete application.
• If the candidate is approved, he/she will attend CSTI’s microfinance course
• After the course has been completed, the candidate will fill out a MasterCard Foundation Scholars’ Program evaluation form.
• This form will evaluate the scholarship program and the training course.
• The candidate will submit the completed evaluation form to CSTI and to the MFMI representatives.

For more information about the MasterCard Foundation – a non-profit, charitable organisation supporting microfinance and youth education – please visit http://www.mastercardfoundation.org/

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