For the fourth year, the MasterCard Foundation, in conjunction with the School of African Microfinance awarded scholarships to qualified applicants to attend the School of African Microfinance 2011 training. The MasterCard Foundation Scholars Program made it possible for organizations and individuals without own financial possibilities to attend SAM 2011 by providing scholarships for tuition fee, accommodation and travel costs.

This Program is part of MasterCard Foundation’s mission to support microfinance programs and services to financially disadvantaged persons and communities in order to economically enhance communities and foster the development of entrepreneurs as a means of relieving poverty.

The MasterCard Foundation Scholars Program is dedicated to expanding the capacity of microfinance practitioners, with particular focus on middle management and to increase institutional leadership among women and under-represented populations.

If you qualify under one or more of the following categories, you are encouraged to apply:

1. Managers at microfinance institutions or banks.
2. Microfinance Consultants who have in the past provided implementation support to financial institutions and are keen to increase their overall technical skills base.
3. Individuals from the financial institutions that apply different models in their service delivery e.g. savings and credit cooperatives.
4. Individuals from the Middle East and North Africa region.

Women microfinance managers are encouraged to apply.

Scholarship Coverage

The scholarships are intended to supplement other resources available to the applicants. Applicants may be awarded full or partial scholarships, depending on the assessment of the awarding committee. In their application, applicants should state how much of the course fees they or their institutions are willing to meet. The scholarship award committee will use the combined criteria of merit and need to decide how much will be awarded to those who qualify.

All interested applicants should apply directly to the School of African Microfinance scholarships@samtraining.org.

All applicants must submit

• A current résumé
• A completed SAM application form.
• A completed scholarship application form (this will be sent to applicants who qualify for SAM 2012)