Founding Partners

Our founding partners have joined together to provide strategic direction and content for Mobile Money Summit 2008. Their insight and leadership ensure that mobile banking and finance solutions create opportunities for developing countries and economies, and improve the lives of people around the globe.

IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, fosters sustainable economic growth in developing countries by financing private sector investment, mobilizing private capital in local and international financial markets, and providing advisory and risk mitigation services to businesses and governments. IFC's vision is that people should have the opportunity to escape poverty and improve their lives. In FY07, IFC committed $8.2 billion and mobilized an additional $3.9 billion through syndications and structured finance for 299 investments in 69 developing countries. IFC also provided advisory services in 97 countries. For more information, visit www.ifc.org.

CGAP (The Consultative Group to Assist the Poor) is the world's leading resource for the advancement of microfinance. CGAP provides the financial industry, governments and investors with objective information, expert opinion, and innovative solutions to effectively expand access to finance for poor people around the world. Learn more at www.cgap.org/technology.

DFID, the Department for International Development: leading the British government's fight against world poverty.

Nearly a billion - one in five people in the world today - live in poverty on less than one dollar a day. In an increasingly interdependent world, many problems - like conflict, crime, pollution, and diseases such as HIV and AIDS - are caused or made worse by poverty. DFID supports long-term programmes to help tackle the underlying causes of poverty.

DFID also responds to emergencies, both natural and man-made. DFID works in partnership with governments, civil society, the private sector and others. It also works with multilateral institutions, including the World Bank, United Nations agencies, and the European Commission. DFID works directly in over 150 countries worldwide, with a budget of some £5.9 billion in 2006. Its headquarters are in London and East Kilbride, near Glasgow. www.dfid.gov.uk

The GSMA is the global trade association representing more than 700 GSM mobile operator Members across 218 countries and territories of the world. In addition, more than 200 Associate Members (manufacturers and suppliers) support the Association's initiatives as key partners. Encompassing commercial, public policy and technical initiatives, the GSMA focuses on ensuring mobile services work globally, thereby enhancing their value to individual users and national economies while creating new business opportunities for operators and their supplier partners. The Association's members now serve more than 2.5 billion customers - 85 percent of the world's mobile phone users. www.gsmworld.com