Anup Singh leads MSC’s regional office in Anglophone Africa and heads the Helix Institute based in Nairobi, Kenya. MSC (MicroSave Consulting) is a boutique consulting firm that has, for 20 years, pushed the world towards meaningful financial, social, and economic inclusion. At MSC, he manages consulting projects on digital transformation of financial institutions; fintech mapping, scoping, and policy design; digital readiness assessment of social protection programs; digital credit scoping, design and policy; and training programs. He has consulted over 100 institutions including governments, fin-techs, financial institutions, investors, and multilateral organizations in over 20 countries in Africa and Asia. He has also trained at the Boulder Institute of Microfinance, Italy in 2017, 2018, and 2019.
How has been your journey from IIFM to MSC?
After my PGDFM course in 2006, I secured a job at Institute of Financial Management and Research (IFMR) in Chennai as part of campus placement. IFMR is part of the ICICI Group. I joined IFMR in their Microfinance Strategy Unit (MSU) as an Associate. The job role was to advise Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) in pursuit of their strategic goals of expanding outreach and managing portfolio quality. As part of my stint, I worked with a number of MFIs including Cashpor in Varanasi on advisory for individual lending.
As part of my engagement with IFMR, I engaged with MicroSave, now MSC. IFMR had a strategic partnership with MicroSave. As part of the partnership, MSC trained the staff of MSU and IFMR. I attended three training courses at MSC and really liked their work. So, after 13 months with MSU, I decided to join MSC. I liked the way MSC approached the consulting projects and was convinced that it would be an intellectually enriching exercise. This is my 13th year with MSC and my conviction has guided me well. In the course of these 13 years, I learnt a lot, had two international stints, and numerous projects outside India. At present I head MSC’s business in Anglophone Africa and I have been based in Nairobi, Kenya since 2015.
What were some of the key milestones/learning in this journey that you would like to share with us?
Some of the key milestones in my professional career include:
1) publishing in number of sectoral periodicals and journals,
2) moderated sessions in different inclusive finance forums including European Microfinance Week,
3) Faculty member at Boulder Institute of Microfinance since 2016, and
4) Head of Helix Institute of Digital Finance.
What is the most satisfying part of your current role?
I like the work I do with MSC as our focus is on low- and moderate- income populations in Asia and Africa. The product, process, policy level changes that we work on help improve the lives and livelihoods of low- and moderate-income populations – thus directly contributing to the upliftment of the majority of the global populace. The work is pretty exciting with a chance to handle new clients, work on new projects, and resolve new challenges. As the work involves lots of travel, a chance to meet brilliant people, and work on exciting projects, it never gets boring or monotonous.
Has your learning at IIFM helped in shaping how you approach your professional roles?
The role of IIFM in shaping me has been more on attitudinal level. The experience of IIFM, particularly of the field work and the two internships gave an early experience of working in a professional environment. Further, the two years at IIFM helped me to understand the value of being grounded. I learnt the lesson that having the right attitude is half the battle won. I toyed with the idea of building a career in the supply chain, then shifted to market research, before eventually deciding on microfinance. All of these career options seemed attractive based on the skills and exposure I got at IIFM. In addition, IIFM provided me the platform that helped me secure my first job after the course and thus played a foundational role in shaping up my career.
My key reason to build a career in the microfinance sector was largely inspired by the early success of the microfinance industry in India. As it was a niche sector, the growth potential was tremendous considering that the microfinance sector slowly transcended to achieve an industry stature. MFIs had been remarkably resilient in growth despite competition from the formal financial sector. Tectonic shifts such as modified business models, shifting target segments and markets, restructuring organizational design, re-modelling operations presented numerous opportunities to the consulting firms. Further, as the microfinance sector converges with the formal financial characterized by blurring industry boundaries, changing organizational design, and turbulent firm dynamics, the sector is becoming even more exciting now.
The stay at IIFM was characterized by a number of memories. Some of the vivid memories are the frantic scramble associated with the last-minute submission of assignments, late night badminton with batchmates, cricket and football matches, volleyball (where we were beaten hands down by the mess team twice in a row), and GBMs over every issue.
I really appreciate the support of my professors, namely, Rabindra K Singh sir, Vinay Sinha sir, and B P Pethiya sir, who provided ample support during and after the course. I was able to speak my mind, ask questions, and get guidance from them when I was in doubt regarding decisions.
I developed some really strong bonds and relationships with many people, noteworthy people include: a) my roommate, Anil Singh, somebody who I shared my joys and sorrows with, b) Santosh Singh, with whom I did one of the internships and learnt so much from him, c) Rahul Singh (Master Sahab), who inculcated the hobby of reading in me, d) Shyam sir, who I knew from before IIFM, and e) Pethiya sir, who initiated me to the world of inclusive finance.
My advice to the students at IIFM is to further hone your knowledge through learning about the developments in the industry. Maintaining and nurturing inquisitiveness in your interest areas will drive you to push further and synthesize new knowledge which will help in making you an excellent professional. Consider multiple perspectives in approaching a problem, build critical thinking skills and formulate arguments concisely and intelligibly. Build good command over communication so you can write very well and can articulate your thoughts expressively. Build relationships with peers, colleagues, seniors, teachers, and industry leaders as relationships help you leverage opportunities. You can make the IIFM experience much more than just an academic qualification.
A consultant’s life is usually very busy. Large part of the day is spent planning either the new business or executing the existing business. Thus, you spend long hours discussing with your clients or your project teams either in person or virtually. A consultant also reads and writes a lot – to keep yourself abreast of the market developments and to share what you have learnt from the market.
My weekend usually has a mix of tennis, some movies or music, and a lot of time with family. In the past few years, I have learnt that cooking is an ultimate stress buster. So, on days when the going has been tough, I dish out excellent food. The taste of food is directly proportional to the stress level.
I enjoy reading. Fiction is a genre I am really fond of. However, off late, I enjoy reading William Dalrymple and his thesis on Mughal period and pre-independence India. I enjoyed reading Yuval Noah Harari’s books.
I would be happy to give back to IIFM in any shape and form I could. I think I can contribute through mentoring a few final year students in making career choices, support in course design and refinement to align with what market needs, share technical expertise through guest lectures, and provide support to organize internships and placements.
I suggest that we interview Jagjeet Singh Sareen, PFM 2005.