• We got some interesting questions and here we would like to provide a feedback, starting from the intriguing one: which would be my role? I am a Consultant and in my advisory position I proposed a Model of intervention; then, it will be up to the Private Investors/Institutions/Funding Agencies to see who to appoint as Fund Manager and the other Executives Positions. Having conceived and designed the Model of Intervention, I am available to act as a Partner and be also involved in running the business, of course.
• Which is the scenario? We designed the FUND taking inspiration from the basic Documents/Papers recently released by the international financial establishment and, among others, Basel III Committee ( http://www.bis.org, ), CGAP (http://www.cgap.org/publications/new-funder-guidelines-market-systems-approach-financial-inclusion), UN 2030 Agenda on SDGs http://www.un.org.) and CSFI Banana Skins (http://www.aboutmicrofinance.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Banana+Skins_07-16_v8.pdf ).
• The main message we detected is that on development matters there is a need to lessen the importance of financial component of the economy, which has increased to the detriment of the real economy. Accordingly, it is essential to shift from Credit-based economy to Community-based economy. This can be achieved with the correct use of the financial leverage to the business, namely sustainable interventions. It is as easy to say as complicate to fulfil, because all the decision-making process should be revised.
• The FUND Model foresees the impact of the digitalisation to be accomplished making it the product sustainable for the providers, affordable for the clients and market transparent: this can be reached with an appropriate market segmentation.
• We elaborated on above background information on top of our extensive field experience: implementing the activities asks for, besides the necessary practice, expertise well above the ground, which can be acquired with the daily exposure to evaluate credit risk and not copy and paste.
• We have been asked about the driving belt, namely the financial institutions to be involved in FUND activities. We do have our own idea, of course, but at this moment in time, we would say that their involvement – role and responsibility – should be investigated together with the Investors.
• However, this matter should be seen together with the parallel objective of the FUND: assisting microfinance sector to have a performant position in the market, which is important not only for the single entity but for the sound achievement of the financial inclusion.
* We have forecasted that the microfinance sector very soon – likely already in progress – shall go through restructuration under the pressure of the mentioned three big challenges: Undercapitalisation, Digitalisation and New Products.
• In other words, helping lenders to assist Start-up and Growth-up Business, the FUND will advise them to be on track.
• In this picture, the interest of the micro financial providers to cooperate is well beyond the involvement in the business because the FUND will provide them with assistance to review and revise the style of management and in so doing to make the sector efficient.
• For the time being, the FUND is half- way and indeed to complete the exercise we (Investors and I) have to work out The Institutional and Administrative Arrangements, The Organisation Structure, The Decision Making process (Who decides What), The Policy & Procedures, the Countries to initially focus, etc.
• The related phases have been figured out in some slides and a tentative timetable has shown one-month time to complete the job, depending on the way the Investors will speed up the process.
• The FUND’s horizon is the Continent, opportunities being available in each one and every Country, but initially the focus will be on eight Countries, to be agreed with Investors: Ghana, Kenya, Morocco, Tunisia, Cameroon, Tanzania and Algeria.
• Finally, we invite Investors who have appetite to fil in the request of information: https://ascaniograziosi.net. Then, we will inform them on the FUND double ROI – economic and social – along with viability, feasibility, opportunities and rationale.
Ascanio Graziosi 
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