Brune Obegi and Bernard Georges (ADA) in videoconference with FUCEC staff during the training.

The slowdown in economic activity linked to the COVID-19 health crisis has plunged many countries into recession and, as a result, is undermining the financial stability of microfinance institutions.

In this context, ADA has launched a response programme to help its partners get through the crisis and ensure the continuity of their activities.

In response to the request of the Faîtière des Unités Coopératives d'Epargne et de Crédit du Togo (FUCEC), ADA has set up technical assistance with the Microvision tool to define the repositioning strategy in the difficult economic context of the pandemic and to enable each of the credit unions to establish their financial and social projections.

The workshop took place by teleconference from 24 June 2020 to 27 August 2020. Due to constraints related to the principle of video-conferencing, 7 sessions of 3 hours each were necessary to cover all the training and technical assistance provided to FUCEC and Coopec Avé.

In order for the staff of both entities to understand and use the Microvision tool afterwards, it was requested that the chief accountant and the general manager follow the workshop assiduously. In general, at least two people from each institution were present at all sessions in order to be able to extend the practice of using Microvision to other coopecs.

Thanks to Microvision's forecasts, Coopec Avé was able to assess its financial stability for the coming months in response to the current economic crisis and to realise, among other things, the importance of the implementation of digital technology, both in order to cope with the increasing financial service needs of their clients and the competition between microfinance institutions.