IPA Burkina Faso hosted an impact workshop titled “Girls’ Schooling in Burkina Faso: Effects of Conditional and Unconditional Cash Transfers.” Richard Akresh (Illinois University) presented the results of a 2010 survey in southern Burkina Faso.

In collaboration with Private Enterprise Development in Low-Income Countries (PEDL), the SME Initiative held its fourth Working Group in London, UK on December 13, 2013.The full day event brought together SME and PEDL affiliates to share innovative research designs, preliminary results, and new research papers.   Presenters included: Welcome and Overview Chris Woodruff, PEDL Lucia Sanchez, Innovations for Poverty Action   “Business Growth, Entrepreneurship and Social Interactions: Long Run Evidence on Repayment Flexibility” Rohini Pande, Harvard Kennedy School   “Inside the production function: the effect of financial contracts on growing firms’ technology use.

On October 15-18, 2013, the Africa Microfinance Network (AFMIN) held its 2013 Annual Conference and General Meeting in Addis Ababa.AFMIN is an association of microfinance networks in Africa resulting from an initiative led by African microfinance practitioners to create and/or strengthen country-level microfinance networks for the purpose of establishing shared performance standards, institutional capacity and policy change.