The Memi project is carried out by three partner research institutions (Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Università di Parma, Università di Genova) and Microfinanza Srl, which are in charge of the tasks which compose the project work plan, along with two stakeholder partners (European Microfinance Network and Italian Microfinance Network), which are the main facilitators to retrieving very useful research data from the relevant Microfinance Institutions.
Research Centre for Economic and Monetary Policy
The Research Centre for Economic and Monetary Policy - Centro Studi di Politica Economica e Monetaria (Cespem) «Mario Arcelli» - is a research centre of the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore located in Piacenza.
Department of Economics and Management of the Università di Parma
The Department of Economics and Management of the Università di Parma is composed of 90 researchers (PhD students, senior lecturers, associate professors, full professors) and 15 staff in the administrative unit. The Department as a whole covers all the scientific areas related to the analysis of socioeconomic phenomena: economics, accountancy, finance, banking, marketing, statistics, mathematics, and agricultural policies. The Department offers 2 first cycle degrees in Economics and Management (with 5 different curricula available) and in Food System, 5 second cycle degrees (postgraduate), several master’s programmes and a PhD programme.
Activities related to social and economic development have been carried out over the last two decades. Most of the programmes include specific modules on microfinance:
- Master’s programme in “Finanza per lo sviluppo” (Finance for Development), Academic Years 2005/2006 to 2007/2008, focused on microfinance.
- Second cycle degree in “International Business and Development”.
- Master’s programme in “Managing in Emerging Markets”, in partnership with the Universities of Modena-Reggio Emilia and Ferrara.
- Seminars on: a) specific microfinance programs and institutions and b) ethics in finance.
Department of Economics and Business Studies of the Università di Genova
The Department of Economics and Business Studies of the Università di Genova has a long tradition and a lasting connection with the history and economy of the City of Genoa.
Established in 1885 as a School for the Application of Commercial Studies on the initiative of both public institutions and private enterprise, it has always aimed to provide individuals with a range of cultural values and professional skills to enable them to succeed in an ever-changing economic context.
The Department of Economics - DIEC at Genoa University is an interdisciplinary research structure, active in many fields, such as Macroeconomics, Microeconomics, Political Economy, Industrial Economics, Statistics, Business Economics and Management.
Microfinanza Srl
In more than nineteen years of experience, Microfinanza Srl has acquired an in-depth knowledge of the access to finance and financial inclusion challenges. It has developed its own working methodology and tools to provide services and technical assistance to support both, the supply and demand sides. The Company has carried out several assignments in a large number of countries all over the world (sub-Saharan Africa, Asia and Southeast Asia, MENA Region, Central Asia and the Caucasus, Latin America and the Caribbean, the Balkans and Europe) and has partnered with more than a hundred organizations across the worldwide.
Since 2002, Microfinanza Srl has been cooperating with Associazione Microfinanza e Sviluppo Onlus, an Italian non-profit association promoting initiatives in Italy and worldwide on financial education and, more in general, on access to finance. Some experts of Microfinanza Srl are active members of the association and are actively involved in the design and implementation of projects mainly targeting migrants, refugees and youth, in Italy as well as abroad.
Until July 2017 the Company was one of the funders and main shareholders of Impact Finance Management, an asset manager company. Today, Microfinanza Srl is the main partner and shareholder of Impact Fin Italia, an impact asset manager supporting primarily agri-business projects, which has been developing a crowdfunding platform to support development initiatives.
European Microfinance Network (EMN)
European Microfinance Network (EMN) represents and groups the main microfinance providers in the European scenario. Periodically EMN gathers relevant data from them for providing an overview of the microfinance sector in Europe and facing specific topics on microfinance challenges.
Its main activities concern: capacity-building of own members (through debates, workshops and training); information exchange and networking events organization (think-tanks, idea-labs, annual conference); advocacy at the EU level.
Rete Italiana di Microfinanza (RITMI)
Italian Microfinance Network - Rete Italiana di Microfinanza (RITMI) - facilitates the development and the exchange of good practices among microfinance operators in Italy. In doing this, RITMI promotes workshops and periodic meetings among the members of its network.
RITMI provides also useful tools, like user guides, frequent report on microfinance status in Italy, constant updating of the Italian microfinance portal www.microfinanza-italia.org. RITMI contributes to the European Microfinance Network Surveys by collecting data from Italian microfinance scenario. Since 2012, RITMI is working for the creation of an internal database on financial and social performance evaluation of own members.