Ma’anshan Rural Commercial Bank (MRCB) was one of the partner banks to receive IPC support in developing cashflow-based MSE lending capacities in the framework of the China Development Bank’s China Microfinance Project (CMFP). Following a successful two-year cooperation between the bank and IPC to develop SME-lending capacities, strengthen the bank’s network of village and township banks (VTB) and enhance middle management training, the bank contracted IPC for two additional projects. IPC supported the bank by providing classroom training for MSE lending staff, holding middle management workshops and, in response to the growing number of lending staff in the bank and its VTB network, by establishing a more formalised training unit in the bank’s head office. The project enabled the bank to establish a strong foundation for its training activities and it was a key milestone towards the subsequent establishment, together with IPC, of the Chinese-German School for Inclusive Finance in Ma’anshan in 2015.

IPC delivered six one-week classroom trainings for MSE-lending staff, including MSE loan officers, back-office and supervisory staff. Topics included accounting, cashflow-based lending technology, marketing, communication, credit decision-making, monitoring and arrears management. One of the training sessions aimed to strengthen the leadership and management skills of middle managers in the institution.

Furthermore, we held two workshops with middle managers from the bank and its VTB network, including study trips to the ProCredit banks in Ukraine and Macedonia.

In order to establish a training unit in the bank’s head office, we performed the following activities:

• Assisting the bank in the recruitment of a training manager responsible for training staff of the bank and its VTB network
• Jointly developing a training concept for various positions and career paths, comprising classroom training, in-house simulation, and on-the-job training
• Establishing a train-the-trainer system
• Coaching training managers on all aspects of curriculum planning, content management, trainer management and train-the-trainer, and management of the training unit