Online Technical Assistance in Times of Lockdowns While Covid-19 is spreading, flights are cancelled and AFC’s experts are suddenly quite restricted in their travels, AFC quickly came up with flexible solutions to keep delivering high quality technical assistance. Recently, four different online trainings were conducted in three of our East African programme countries: Beginning of April 2020, the first online course on the subject of Advanced Portfolio Management and Modelling was organized for the Trade and Development Bank Kenya. The intensive class was initially planned to be held on-site but moved quickly to virtual environment. The participants feed-back received at the end of each day was enthusiastic and encouraging and the questions throughout the seminar confirmed that participants were following the subject and actively communicated through the chat floor. For the expert, who is based in New York, it was very interesting to compare the training activities onsite and online. The same agenda was used but with an adjusted content, to make it more suitable and adapt to the online environment. For example, graphics and tables were now animated so that the participants could better follow the explanations. An advantage of onsite seminars is that the trainer can read the facial expressions of participants to understand whether they are following. Therefore, the expert strongly encouraged feed-back and interaction during the online training. Additionally, TDB’s staff received a training on Climate Risk Management and Opportunities via Zoom. The overall objective of the training was to raise the awareness of the need for transparency on exposure to climate risk. The training was structured with the help of the recommendations of the task force on Climate Related Financial Disclosure (TCFD). The investment officers were instructed on general aspects of climate change, the relationship between climate risk and financial risk, different methods to assess climate risk and how to develop appropriate climate mitigation and adaptation management interventions. Senior staff
were instructed on capitalizing on TDB’s existing climate ambitions and becoming a low climate risk bank to be able to tap into the vast pool of climate finance. In Rwanda, the AFC gender expert successfully ran a Women in Leadership training by video conference for I&M Bank. She adapted the format to guarantee a good learning outcome despite the challenging circumstances: the sessions were reduced to three-hour intensive workshops with continuous discussions rather than group work. Also, the number of participants was reduced to allow for intensive participation instead of splitting off in small groups. The different group dynamics and the reduction of body language and non-verbal clues that can be observed with all participants in different locations is in some ways a disadvantage, but also means that it is more natural for everyone to take part, even though they may otherwise be shy to contribute. Due to the fact that the training was held by video conference and the requested reduction in duration, the objective was changed to focus on differences between gender as well as specific issues faced by women in business in general and leadership positions in particular. Currently ongoing, is a series of three-day trainings in Credit Assessment & Appraisal with the DFCU Bank in Uganda. As the trainees in Uganda as well as the expert in the UK are currently in lockdown, the class is held via Zoom. Despite the difficult circumstances, participation is very good, motivation is high, and jokes are still appreciated, even online. AFC is proud to keep delivering high quality trainings in these demanding times. So far, the participants’ evaluations have shown that— with some adjustments— it is not only possible to convert an onsite class into an online training, but also very much welcomed and engaging and might be a first step into the future, more environmentally friendly technical assistance. For further information please contact: Guillermo.Bosse@afci.de or Friederike.Graupner@afci.de