Creating Opportunity for Micro Businesses in Central Asia

IFC’s Access to Finance business line helps increase the availability and affordability of financial services, focusing particularly on micro, small, and medium enterprises. It is estimated that IFC-supported microfinance advisory projects have facilitated access to finance for some five million micro entrepreneurs around the world, some of whom are in Central Asia.

In this region we are increasing our activities in sustainable alleviation of poverty, particularly by focusing on capacity building in areas such as savings mobilization and diversification. In this publication we highlight just a few examples of the impact of access to microfinance.

The stories featured here were collected through a contest initiated by the IFC Azerbaijan & Central Asia Microfinance Transformation Support Project involving four microfinance institutions in the region. Loan Officers and Marketing Specialists from ARVAND Microcredit Deposit-taking Organization (Tajikistan), Bai-Tushum & Partners Microfinance Company (Kyrgyz Republic), CREDAGRO Non Bank Credit Organization (Azerbaijan), and IMON INTERNATIONAL Microlending Organization (Tajikistan) submitted stories.

These are 11 best stories about real people in Central Asia for whom microfinance has created opportunities to improve their lives.

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For more information about our work see Microfinance or contact us.