Europe

Since 1992, SBFIC has implemented all kinds of projects in Central and Eastern Europe, helping to re-structure (former) savings banks into successful retail banks, establish bank training centres and generally support overall financial-sector development. Whereas the focus of activities in the mid-nineties was on Central and Eastern Europe (including Russia), it is now on the post-conflict countries of Southeastern Europe.

Latin America

SBFIC activities in Latin America are focussing on financial institutions with a strong social mandate: in Peru SBFIC helped generate a system of municipal savings banks and in Columbia it promoted the implementation of micro-lending projects. In 2003, Mexico became a major SBFIC partner country. SBFIC has helped re-engineer the Mexican savings-banks system, mostly by strengthening and developing a network for small local banks. Also in the Mexican context, SBFIC is committed to supporting re-structuring efforts by a large group of about 300 small local savings banks.

Africa

The main focus of SBFIC activity in Africa has been on helping post-office savings banks evolve into independent and viable financial institutions. Aside from the formal aspects of this transition process, key components of SBFIC work in countries such as Botswana, Namibia, and Uganda include the development of human resources and new products. On top of this, SBFIC is promoting the institutional development of other financial institutions with a mandate to serve the rural and urban poor, e.g. in South Africa.

Caucasus, Central Asia and Middle East

Nowadays, SBFIC is implementing projects in all three Caucasus countries (Armenia, Azerbaijan  and Georgia). Work here focuses on general support to retail banks, “downscaling” and the implementation of corporate governance standards. In Central Asia, SBFIC is helping a traditional deposit-taking institution evolve into a modern retail bank.

East and Southeast Asia

East and Southeast Asia have become an important region for SBFIC over the last couple of years. Of specific significance here is the successful SBFIC-backed transformation of a micro-finance institution into a formal rural bank (CARD, Philippines). Other projects include the launch of a credit-risk management system in Thailand and the implementation of the Financial Sector Development Programme in China (in a consortium lead by the European Savings Banks Group). The Sparkassenstiftung is strongly involved in Sri Lanka and Indonesia - within the scope of an extensive downscaling project micro loans are extended to micro entrepreneurs that have been affected by the tsunami catastrophe.

Caucasus

Transnational Projects

Transnational Projects