Azerbaijan, Baku, Dec. 11 / Trend I.Khalilova /
The foreign pension funds considerably increased interest in the Azerbaijani microfinance market and today their number reached 15, Azerbaijani Microfinance Association (AMFA) Executive Director Jala Hajiyeva said on Saturday. According to her, the portfolio of each of these funds in Azerbaijan reached $60 million.
"Initially, the international humanitarian organizations intended to invest in this sector and today the circle widened, and now the pension funds are also among the investors. These funds were established over the past five or six years, and they want the investments to bring a social effect," Hajiyeva said.
These investors are interested not in the money that they earn, but in the fact that they can change someone's life better. These investors do not care that payment on the borrowed funds is very slow [if these investments are invested in agriculture, it would take at least 3 years], compared to big business. In any case, the pension funds try to invest in sustainable business, what microfinance is today.
"Of course, the financial interest is also a certain value for them," she said. "Today, the main funding sources in Azerbaijan are pension funds from France, the U.S., Switzerland and the Netherlands, which invest through the U.S. Fund for Development World Markets."
In turn, a social investor such as Oika Credit (the Netherlands) is also based on three or four other funds that operate in this country.
The interesting thing is that they not only invest but also watch the progress of disbursement.
Today, several representatives of Oika Credit meet with clients in Azerbaijan, Hajiyeva said. The company's portfolio in the country is about $ 60 million, which were issued to non-banking credit organizations (NBCO). "The international organization must have a certain portfolio to open its office in Azerbaijan, but today Oika Credit's portfolio in Azerbaijan has not yet reached this limit, so it is out of question," Hajiyeva said.
AMFA was established during the National Micro Financing Association by ten international organizations On 19 Dec 2001. The aim of the organization is to implement the micro financing program in Azerbaijan. АМFА mission provides increase of micro financing potential in Azerbaijan.
Today, the country's microfinance sector is represented by 15 banks involved in this kind of business, and 19 NBCOs.