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Best Practices voor een duurzame toekomst
13 januari 2007

Dutch bankers coach colleagues in developing countries

The Bankers for Bankers program intends to improve the financial sector in developing countries and emerging markets in order to stimulate the local economy. Partly due to the UN Year of Microcredit, funds for microcredits have increased substantially, but the challenge remains to build sustainable financial institutions. Through the new program experienced Dutch bankers will coach their colleagues in developing countries.
Eric Mackay (68) retired 11 years ago. Since then he has been involved in over 20 consultancy jobs, mainly in Africa. After returning from Tanzania for the first week-long coaching session, he told P+: "The CEO of Eurafrica Bank is an exquisite banker, who is inclined to change his strategy from facilitating the top of the corporate world to servicing the lower segments of the business market, like small and medium enterprises. He himself asked for a coach, an admirable attitude since it involves allowing a stranger to interfere with his business. He also wanted me to coach his staff in switching from million dollar cases to much smaller digits." Mackay will return to his Tanzanian counterpart every three months for the coming two or three years.
The Bankers for Bankers program will also start in Bosnia, Cambodia and the Philippines. The idea comes from several Dutch banks and financial organisations (FMO, NFX and Triodos Bank), and PUM, an organisation with a database of some 4,000 experts who can be sent out to developing countries for a short length of time.
Eric Mackay is PUM-coordinator for banking and finance: "CEOs of banks in developing countries often feel isolated. They are very glad to have a kind of mentor from the western financial sector. PUM has about 100 bankers in its portfolio, so we were happy to join the project. In a year we will have a review to see whether the program deserves a permanent status."
P+ webtip: NFX