Morocco: Citi Foundation Sponsors Global Financial Education Program, Hosts North Africa Region Training Workshops

Citi
Citi, the leading global financial services company, has some 200 million customer accounts and does business in more than 100 countries, providing consumers, corporations, governments and institutions with a broad range of financial products and services, including consumer banking and credit, corporate and investment banking, securities brokerage, and wealth management. Citi's major brand names include Citibank, CitiFinancial, Primerica, Smith Barney, Banamex, and Nikko. Additional information may be found at www.citigroup.com or www.citi.com.

Citi Foundation
The Citi Foundation is committed to enhancing economic opportunities for underserved individuals and families in the communities where we work throughout the world. Globally, the Citi Foundation is focusing its giving on Microfinance and Microentrepreneurship, which helps individuals become economically self-sufficient; Small and Growing Businesses leading to economic expansion and job creation; Education, which prepares young people for personal and professional success; Financial Education, which helps individuals make informed financial decisions; and the Environment with a focus on sustainable enterprises that generate jobs and stimulate economic growth while preserving the environment. Additional information can be found at http://www.Citifoundation.org/.

Freedom from Hunger
Founded in 1946, Freedom from Hunger is a nonprofit, international development organization bringing innovative and sustainable self-help solutions to the fight against chronic hunger and poverty. Freedom from Hunger specializes in ensuring that the poor have access to microfinance and health protection services, and life skills training to achieve food security for their families.

Microfinance Opportunities
Microfinance Opportunities was established in 2002 as a microenterprise resource center that promotes client-led microfinance. It seeks to help poor people increase their access to well-designed and delivered financial services. Microfinance Opportunities provides action-research, training and technical assistance in three areas focused on the clients of microfinance services: Financial Education, Microinsurance and Client Assessment.


	Printer Friendly Page		FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) March 27, 2008 Morocco: Citi Foundation Sponsors Global Financial Education Program, Hosts North Africa Region Training Workshops Casablanca, Morocco – The Citi Foundation has granted US$3.9 million to the Global Financial Education Program with the goal of teaching millions of low income households around the world about important financial concepts that will help them move from "poverty to prosperity" by making more informed financial decisions and improve their standard of living. Hosted by Citi Morocco and the Citi Foundation, the Global Financial Education Program held a North Africa Regional ten day training of trainers in Casablanca March 4-13, 2008. "We are extremely grateful to Citi Foundation and to our two trainers from ’Freedom from Hunger’ and ‘Microfinance Opportunities’ for making it possible for our group to attend to this great workshop. It has covered a variety of topics related to finance and how we can further support our customers in the future. It was also a rich experience as it allowed us to connect with each other and share experiences from outside. We are motivated by the idea of being able to share our knowledge with our staff members and with our clients, and to start adapting the valuable tools to our own environment," said Fatima Zahra Lasri, head of training at FONDEP at the closing ceremony. She also added that this should not be the end of the program but rather the launch of a new journey where the attendees will work more with each other with the objective of giving enhanced support to their customers. "In our countries, an estimated 80% of companies are microenterprises and we believe that their access to banking products is a strong tool to develop and grow our economy. Citi is very committed to supporting the development of this industry through many initiatives including the funding of this program," stated James Morrow, Morocco Citi Country Officer, during the closing ceremony. M. Morrow also thanked the two trainers for their great energy during the training session and congratulated all the participants for having completed the training. There were representatives from Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria and France from: MFIs/NGOs: FONDEP, ENDA, Federation of Tunis for Social Solidarity, Al Karama, Zakoura, ANGEM, AL AMANA, ASAD and Movimendo Training Institutions: AIDES and AMOS Micro finance network: Cerise During the workshop, the organizations learned to use the complete training toolkit, marketing tools for the design of customized training for their customers, tools to evaluate their results, and the adaptation of the curriculum to their local needs. The Global Financial Education Program is funded by the Citi Foundation, and designed and managed by international non-profit group, Microfinance Opportunities, in collaboration with Freedom from Hunger, a leader in adult curriculum development and integration of education with microfinance. The program aims to rapidly advance financial education for the poor around the globe, through regional and country workshops that will result in a global network of financial educators. The Global Financial Education Project has provided financial education training to 266 master trainers and 2,831 organizational trainers, reaching over 168,000 clients of microfinance institutions in 30 countries worldwide in the past two years. Through alternative delivery channels such as radio and newsletters, the program has reached an additional 6.6 million individuals around the world. The training uses a cutting-edge curriculum on budgeting and cash flow, debt management, savings, financial negotiation and banking services, as well as best practices in adult education and evaluation. New modules on consumer protection, risk management, insurance and remittances are under development along with the adaptation of existing modules to target youth in developing countries. The Global Financial Education Program curriculum is a result of three years of collaborative research and rigorous testing with microfinance institutions in six countries to develop an effective financial education toolkit to help the world’s poor people increase, protect and improve management of their assets. The Citi Foundation also funded this development phase. # # # Citi Citi, the leading global financial services company, has some 200 million customer accounts and does business in more than 100 countries, providing consumers, corporations, governments and institutions with a broad range of financial products and services, including consumer banking and credit, corporate and investment banking, securities brokerage, and wealth management. Citi's major brand names include Citibank, CitiFinancial, Primerica, Smith Barney, Banamex, and Nikko. Additional information may be found at www.citigroup.com or www.citi.com. Citi Foundation The Citi Foundation is committed to enhancing economic opportunities for underserved individuals and families in the communities where we work throughout the world. Globally, the Citi Foundation is focusing its giving on Microfinance and Microentrepreneurship, which helps individuals become economically self-sufficient; Small and Growing Businesses leading to economic expansion and job creation; Education, which prepares young people for personal and professional success; Financial Education, which helps individuals make informed financial decisions; and the Environment with a focus on sustainable enterprises that generate jobs and stimulate economic growth while preserving the environment. Additional information can be found at http://www.Citifoundation.org/. Freedom from Hunger Founded in 1946, Freedom from Hunger is a nonprofit, international development organization bringing innovative and sustainable self-help solutions to the fight against chronic hunger and poverty. Freedom from Hunger specializes in ensuring that the poor have access to microfinance and health protection services, and life skills training to achieve food security for their families. Microfinance Opportunities Microfinance Opportunities was established in 2002 as a microenterprise resource center that promotes client-led microfinance. It seeks to help poor people increase their access to well-designed and delivered financial services. Microfinance Opportunities provides action-research, training and technical assistance in three areas focused on the clients of microfinance services: Financial Education, Microinsurance and Client Assessment.