I 
111TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1987 
To amend the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to provide funding for capacity- 
building to microfinance service providers. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 21, 2009 
Mr. BOOZMAN (for himself and Mr. MEEKS of New York) introduced the 
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 
A BILL 
To amend the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to provide 
funding for capacity-building to microfinance service pro-
viders. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Microfinance Capacity- 
Building Act of 2009’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND DECLARATION OF POLICY. 
Congress finds and declares the following: 
(1) Microfinance is considered one of the great 
success stories of United States foreign aid because 
of its ability to reach the poor, especially women, 
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with programs that have a high impact and are 
highly sustainable. 
(2) Studies conducted in India, Kenya, and the 
Philippines found average annual returns on micro-
business investments ranging from 177 to 847 per-
cent, demonstrating the enormous capacity the poor 
have to work and save their way out of poverty. 
(3) An estimated 113,000,000 clients are cur-
rently being served with microcredit, and the Micro-
credit Summit Campaign has set a goal of reaching 
175,000,000 of the world’s poorest families by 2015. 
(4) The lack of human capital is widely recog-
nized as the single greatest constraint to the growth 
of leading microfinance networks and other practi-
tioners providing direct financial services to the 
poor. 
(5) According to some industry estimates, in 
order to meet the anticipated demand for micro-
finance, the industry will have to hire 1,600,000 new 
loan officers in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the 
Near East, assuming a loan officer to client ratio of 
1 to 300. 
(6) 
Conservative 
estimates 
state 
that 
$2,000,000,000 in private investment capital is cur-
rently being leveraged for microfinance. Substan-
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tially more could be mobilized and invested in some 
of the world’s poorest countries but remains un-
tapped due to the lack of institutional capacity and 
qualified leaders. 
(7) The lack of human capacity is particularly 
severe in sub-Saharan Africa due to the relative im-
maturity of the microfinance industry, a small pool 
of trained and certified bankers and finance experts, 
and the prevalence of HIV/AIDS. 
SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 
It is the sense of Congress that the microfinance ca-
pacity-building activities supported by subsection (d) of 
section 252 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 
U.S.C. 2211a), as added by section 4 of this Act, is in-
tended to drive innovation and provide comprehensive so-
lutions that address the lack of human capital in devel-
oping countries, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. Such 
activities should provide a regional and sub-regional ap-
proach to maximizing economies of scale and should focus 
predominately on educating and training African nationals 
in order to build capacity in the microfinance industry in 
developing countries, particularly in sub-Saharan African 
countries. 
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SEC. 4. CAPACITY-BUILDING FOR MICROFINANCE SERVICE 
PROVIDERS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 252 of the Foreign Assist-
ance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2211a) is amended by adding 
at the end the following: 
‘‘(d) CAPACITY-BUILDING FOR MICROFINANCE SERV-
ICE PROVIDERS.— 
‘‘(1) AUTHORIZATION.—In carrying out the 
programs authorized under subsection (a), the Ad-
ministrator shall establish a grant program to pro-
vide assistance on a non-reimbursable basis to pri-
vate, non-profit networks of microfinance institu-
tions that provide direct financial services, which 
may include credit of all types, savings, insurance, 
remittances and cash transfers, to the poor and very 
poor in developing countries. 
‘‘(2) ACTIVITIES SUPPORTED.—Assistance pro-
vided under paragraph (1) shall, to the maximum 
extent practicable, be used to carry out traditional 
and nontraditional education and training for indi-
viduals working in the microfinance industry in de-
veloping countries, particularly in sub-Saharan Afri-
can countries. Such education and training may in-
clude curriculum development, distance learning, job 
shadowing, mentoring, training of trainers, scholar-
ships for undergraduate and graduate courses, and 
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‘‘(E) to identify new staff and ensure the 
recruitment and retention of trained staff mem-
bers through the development of incentive pro-
grams and educational components. 
‘‘(3) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible for assistance 
under paragraph (1), a network of microfinance in-
stitutions described in paragraph (1) shall— 
‘‘(A) deliver direct financial services to the 
poor and very poor in at least five developing 
countries through a network of local micro-
finance institutions that are owned or formally 
affiliated and accredited by the network in ac-
cordance with its financial and social perform-
ance standards; 
‘‘(B) operate as a private nonprofit organi-
zation; and 
‘‘(C) agree to match, in cash contributions 
from non-Federal sources and on a 2 dollar-to- 
1 dollar basis, the amount of the grant provided 
to the network under paragraph (1). 
‘‘(4) CONSIDERATIONS.—In making a deter-
mination to provide assistance under paragraph (1), 
the Administrator shall ensure that participating 
networks of microfinance institutions include— 
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‘‘(A) not less than 50 percent women in 
the activities supported under this subsection; 
and 
‘‘(B) 100 percent individuals from devel-
oping countries in the activities supported 
under this subsection. 
‘‘(5) PREFERENCE.—In making a determina-
tion to provide assistance under paragraph (1), the 
Administrator shall give preference to networks of 
microfinance institutions that promote the inclusion 
of women in senior management positions. 
‘‘(6) REPORTING AND EVALUATION.—(A) The 
Administrator, acting through the Director, shall es-
tablish a reporting and evaluation system to assess 
the effectiveness of recipient microfinance institu-
tions in carrying out activities under paragraph (2). 
‘‘(B) A recipient microfinance institution shall 
report on the number of (i) individuals educated and 
trained, (ii) certificates awarded, (iii) university 
credit units awarded, (iv) degrees awarded, and (v) 
education and training curriculum units created. 
‘‘(C) Data reported by recipient microfinance 
institutions under clauses (i) through (iv) of sub-
paragraph (B) shall be disaggregated by sex, coun-
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try of origin, country of employment, and job title 
or position held. 
‘‘(7) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—To carry out this sub-
section, there are authorized to be appro-
priated— 
‘‘(i) $6,000,000 for fiscal year 2010; 
‘‘(ii) $12,000,000 for fiscal year 2011; 
‘‘(iii) $15,000,000 for fiscal year 
2012; 
‘‘(iv) $12,000,000 for fiscal year 
2013; and 
‘‘(v) $5,000,000 for fiscal year 2014. 
‘‘(B) MINIMUM
ALLOCATION.—Not less 
than 60 percent of the funds appropriated pur-
suant to the authorization of appropriations 
under subparagraph (A) for a fiscal year shall 
be used to support capacity-building activities 
in sub-Saharan Africa.’’. 
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Such section is fur-
ther amended in the heading by adding at the end before 
the period the following: ‘‘; CAPACITY-BUILDING FOR 
MICROFINANCE SERVICE PROVIDERS IN SUB-SAHA-
RAN AFRICA’’. 
Æ 
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