PROPARCO Helps FINCA Expand Lending to Micro Entrepreneurs and Small Business in Rural Azerbaijan

14 May, 2015, Baku and Paris – Today PROPARCO became FINCA’s newest financial partner, providing a local currency credit line valued at EUR 11.5 million to FINCA Azerbaijan for on-lending to small business owners so they can increase income and create jobs.

FINCA Azerbaijan is the leading microfinance institution in Azerbaijan, serving businesses across the country with loans and other services, including for agriculture. It currently has more than 150,000 borrowers and an outstanding loan portfolio of USD 185 million. Since it opened doors in 1998, FINCA Azerbaijan has provided more than one million loans.

Claude PERIOU, PROPARCO’s Chief Executive Officer, welcomed “this operation, which is fully in line with Proparco’s commitment towards financial inclusion in rural areas and its mandate in Central Asia. By supporting FINCA Azerbaijan, we are contributing to strengthening a player that promotes responsible microfinance.”

This is PROPARCO’s second operation in the microfinance sector in Azerbaijan, where micro, small and medium-sized business is key to developing the non-oil economy. Through this long-term loan, PROPARCO is helping further FINCA Azerbaijan’s strategy to address the local currency financing needs of clients.

“This credit line from PROPARCO will help us expand access to working capital loans for thousands of new and existing clients,” said Tim TARRANT, CEO of FINCA Azerbaijan. “Since it is in Azerbaijani Manat, it will help protect borrowers from currency fluctuations. It also represents further diversification of our funding base, which is good for FINCA as an institution.”

ABOUT

PROPARCO is a Development Finance Institution jointly held by Agence Française de Développement (AFD) and public and private shareholders from the North and South. Its mission is to catalyze private investment in emerging and developing countries with the aim of supporting growth, sustainable development and the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). PROPARCO is one of the main bilateral development finance institutions in the world. It invests on four continents encompassing the major emerging countries and the poorest countries, particularly in Africa, and has a high level of requirements in terms of social and environmental responsibility. www.proparco.fr

FINCA Azerbaijan is the leading non-bank microfinance institution in Azerbaijan and a part FINCA’s global microfinance network. FINCA Azerbaijan provides innovative financial services to more than 150,000 active clients through its 67 branches nationwide, with a gross loan portfolio of more than US$185 million. FINCA’s mission is to alleviate poverty through lasting solutions that help people build assets, create jobs and raise their standard of living. Together with leading, socially responsible investment partners, FINCA owns and operates a network of microfinance institutions serving nearly 2 million low-income entrepreneurs and their communities in 23 countries, with a double bottom line of financial sustainability and social performance.

Contact at PROPARCO:
Bardin Fanette
bardinf@proparco.fr

Contact at FINCA Azerbaijan:
Zaur Nurmammadov
zaur.nurmammadov@fincaazerbaijan.com
+99 4554552515