Azerbaijan, Baku, Dec. 7 / Trend /
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, has launched a website devoted to operations in Azerbaijan and Central Asia (www.ifc.org/acamfi) to increase awareness about transformation processes of microfinance institutions to provide a broader range of financial services to micro-entrepreneurs across the region, the corporation said.
IFC increases access to finance by building capacity of microfinance institutions that better serve the poor. The website contains information about approach of Azerbaijan and Central Asia Microfinance Transformation Support Project, microfinance-related materials such as major laws and other microfinance regulations in the region, researches and publications. There is also a link to a key source of knowledge and a dominant training resource in microfinance worldwide "Transforming Microfinance Institutions: Providing Full Financial Services to the Poor" handbook by Joanna Ledgerwood.
"IFC pays serious attention to its public and educational campaign to raise awareness of microfinance-related issues. "By informing microfinance institutions who wish to offer deposits and other important financial services to their clients through the process of transformation we hope the website will serve as a companion tool for helping greater permanence in their markets," Rolf Behrndt Regional Business Line Leader Financial Markets said.
The IFC Azerbaijan and Central Asia Microfinance Transformation Support Project provides advisory services to businesses across the region that want to become microfinance institutions. Services include providing support for organizational and financial restructuring, investor relations, and consulting in key organizational and institutional capacity-building activities relevant to the transformation process.
Since 2008, IFC has supported microfinance companies in Azerbaijan and Central Asia in their transformation processes to achieve increased financial sustainability.
IFC is the only international financial institution focused exclusively on the private sector, the engine of sustainable development in emerging markets. Along with IBRD, it is currently seeking a capital increase to strengthen its ability to create opportunity for the poor in developing countries-including by assisting microfinance institutions to boost available financing for small and medium enterprises, such as those in Azerbaijan and Central Asia.