October 27, 2007

AMFA Receives SEEP’s 2007 Network of the Year Award

The SEEP Network recognized the Azerbaijan Microfinance Association (AMFA) for its exceptional accomplishments in 2007 at the SEEP Annual Conference held in Washington, D.C., Oct. 22-26. SEEP presented AMFA with the 2007 Network of the Year Award for excellence in improving demand-driven services, topping a group of 36 microfinance networks from around the world. AMFA’s internship program for young professionals, which is helping to address the scarcity of qualified personnel in the microfinance and banking sectors in Azerbaijan, was noted in particular. SEEP also awarded AMFA the Best Panelist award for a workshop the association sponsored at the conference. AMFA receives funding and technical assistance under ACDI/VOCA’s $6.4 million Azerbaijan SME Support through Financial Sector Development project, which has supported AMFA since 2005 and will continue to assist AMFA through 2008.

AMFA was established in 2001, to strengthen the capacity of microfinance institutions in Azerbaijan. At its start, AMFA was not legally registered and did not have financial assets, funding or a full-time staff to run its operations. During this nascent period, it was supported by the volunteered time of its founding members’ employees. In 2004 AMFA became legally registered and began functioning independently. Since then, AMFA has grown significantly in size and its ability to positively impact the microfinance community in Azerbaijan. Today, AMFA has 19 active members, which include 3 banks; the portfolio size of its members ranges from $5,000 to $40 million.

In the future, AMFA plans to become more sustainable, provide continued support to its growing membership base and build upon its success by focusing on the three pillars of its strategic plan. These pillars include an emphasis on innovative products and services, a commitment to continued education of AMFA staff and member institutions, and an effort to demonstrate its expertise and continue to be recognized as industry experts by the microfinance institution community.

To learn more about ACDI/VOCA’s SME through Financial Sector Development project, click here.