Mateo G. Cabello

Biography

Mateo Garcia Cabello is a financial policy specialist at Oxford Policy Management (OPM), with 12 years of professional experience in the development sector. Prior to joining OPM, Mateo directed the Spanish-Bolivian Microfinance Programme, a second-tier programme with a budget of USD 12 million aimed to improve financial access for excluded segments of population in rural areas of Bolivia. He has also recently conducted an extensive research (2003-07) on the policy process leading to the regulation of microfinance activity in El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala. His work as a Project Director of the Spanish Commission for Refugees involved collaborating with local credit institutions in Morocco and Mozambique to improve their range of financial services, as well as facilitate their access to sources of capital.

His experience in microfinance sector development work – especially in countries noted for being the cradle of what is considered industry best practice – equips him with the capacity to understand the processes involved in introducing policy reforms. He has professional experience in Latin America, Sub-Saharan Africa and the Mediterranean region. He has also worked as a consultant for the Inter American Development Bank and the Ibero American General Secretariat. He is actually collaborating with the Alliance for the Financial Inclusion (AFI) to promote South-South exchange of policy experiences to improve access to financial services.