Advisory Services Projects in Afghanistan

Through coordination with the rest of the World Bank Group and alignment with donor strategies, IFC Advisory Services in the Middle East and North Africa is helping Afghanistan rebuild and create an atmosphere that ensures future stability. IFC will help strengthen the financial sector and support small and medium enterprises in key industries such as agribusiness. IFC will also help build the practical business skills of Afghan entrepreneurs and assist the government in promoting the leasing and housing sectors.



Small & Medium Enterprise Development

Industry Development

• In May 2006, IFC began a comprehensive advisory program to improve the production and marketing of two of the most promising agricultural products in Kandahar: raisins and pomegranates. The project, which builds on a pilot, will focus on expanding the adoption of improved productivity methods, strengthening farmer-trader links, and assessing the potential for developing sustained links between local firms and IFC clients or international anchor companies. Read more about the Industry Development program...

IFC also implemented a training program at Kabul University to enhance the business skills of Afghan entrepreneurs. As of end of fiscal year 2007, the program had conducted four sessions on business skills, training a total of 240 people.


Financial Markets
Microfinance

• IFC's most effective way of reaching smaller businesses is to help build commercially viable microfinance institutions. These institutions finance credit worthy low-income entrepreneurs, most of them women, who otherwise would not have access to mainstream banks. Read more about the Microfinance program...

Housing Finance
To help develop the housing finance and microfinance sectors in Afghanistan, IFC partnered with the International Development Association and conducted a study on the housing market. The aim was to:

• Provide the government with recommendations on housing policy and infrastructure that will lead to the development of a mortgage market
• Identify opportunities for IFC and other stakeholders to directly stimulate, support, and expand the housing and microfinance sectors

Leasing

• In addition, IFC is assisting in the development of the leasing sector in Afghanistan through the creation of enabling legislation, awareness raising and capacity-building activities to select financial institutions, thus improving access to finance for micro, small and medium sized enterprises.

• IFC also helped the Afghanistan Finance Company strengthen its leasing operations and improve existing policies and procedures. In early 2006, the company successfully increased its disbursed portfolio by over 577 percent and provided 22 new Afghan small and medium enterprises with access to lease finance.Read more...