No single organization can solve today’s complex global development challenges alone.
To achieve sustainable impact, NGOs, funders, and businesses must work together to transform markets and communities.
To give us the flexibility to address complex issues, ACDI/VOCA has affiliate organizations that share technical and on-the-ground resources in countries around the world to achieve the objectives of our partners.
Who is AV Group?
ACDI/VOCA and its affiliates (AV Group) is a family of global development organizations that work together and individually to achieve our shared mission: improving the lives of families and the health of communities worldwide.
Together, AV Group serves as a “connecting fiber” with philanthropic and private sector partners and funders. We implement donor-funded projects, facilitate impact investing, deliver financial services, and partner with businesses to build sustainable supply chains.
AV Group members share resources to achieve synergies that would be unavailable to any one organization on their own. We create virtuous cycles of reinvestment and ensure solutions are sustainable and brought to scale.
- ACDI/VOCA is a global non-profit development design and delivery partner that has implemented effective economic and social development projects around the world since 1963.
- Tanager is an international non-profit that connects people and partners — including foundations and corporations — to unlock the full potential for shared market opportunities.
- AV Ventures is an impact investing fund manager which provides innovative, catalytic financing to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and financial institutions. AV Ventures manages four impact investing funds in Kenya, Ghana, Central Asia, and Burkina Faso, and is a partner of Pomona Impact Fund II in Central America.
- Frontiers is a regulated financial institution that extends wholesale loans to microfinance institutions in Central Asia and provides fund management services, helping to fill the financing gap to micro, small and medium enterprises in Central Asia.
ACDI/VOCA’s Affiliated Financial Institutions
Beginning in 1992, ACDI/VOCA established and developed rural and microfinance institutions in the Caucuses, Central Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America. Now, the range of financial products offered by those institutions — from individual and group loans to commercial banking services — and their extraordinary success over the last 30 years reveals the depth of ACDI/VOCA’s commitment to promoting financial inclusion, particularly in low-income, rural communities.
These financial institutions began as projects funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. ACDI/VOCA then continued to provide technical assistance and governance as these institutions grew. They have benefited from ACDI/VOCA’s contributions as they developed managerial experience, implemented sophisticated operating systems, expanded the reach and coverage of financial services to clients, and attracted substantial investment from private investors.
At year-end 2024, our affiliated financial institutions employed over 3,900 people and had over $657 million in loans outstanding to 370,150 clients.
Learn more about these financial institutions.
KYRGYZSTAN: BAI TUSHUM BANK
Bai Tushum Bank received a full banking license from the National Bank of Kyrgyzstan in 2012, distinguishing itself as the first microfinance institution in Central Asia to become a commercial bank. Products and services targeted to businesses, SMEs, and the public include loans, deposit products, settlements, cash services, and remittances. The bank has a social mission to serve rural clients and combines this with excellent and consistent financial performance. With a portfolio exceeding $80 million and 24,000 clients (40 percent of whom are women), Bai Tushum Bank’s strong business model has attracted international investors, including Triple Jump, responsAbility, and Bamboo Finance. Learn more at baitushum.kg/en.
KYRGYZSTAN: BT INNOVATIONS
BT Innovations is a non-profit lender founded by ACDI/VOCA and Caritas Switzerland in 2000 under the name Bai Tushum Financial Fund. BT Innovations provides loans and equity investments of over $3.5 million to 150 Kyrgyz micro and small enterprises (23 percent of which are women-owned) and consulting services. In 2025, BTI opened BT Leasing, a subsidiary that provides leasing solutions for small businesses.
KAZAKHSTAN: KAZMICROFINANCE (KMF)
The microcredit organization KazMicroFinance (KMF) is the largest micro-finance institution in Central Asia. KMF provides individual and group loans to micro and small businesses and serves the general population with financial services. It was established in 2006 as a for-profit subsidiary of the nonprofit microcredit organization Kazakhstan Loan Fund (KMF Demeu) to serve women entrepreneurs and small businesses. KMF has a loan portfolio of over $500 million, serving more than 275,000 clients (66 percent of whom are women). In 2025, KFM earned its commercial bank license, completing their transformation into the country’s leading bank serving micro and small enterprises in rural communities. KMF has equity investments from responsAbility (a Swiss social investor) and Triodos (a leading impact investing group from the Netherlands). Learn more at kmf.kz.
KAZAKHSTAN: KMF DEMEU
ACDI/VOCA established the Kazakhstan Loan Fund in 1996 under the USAID Kazakhstan Community Loan Fund project to provide microfinance loans. In 2006, the loan fund established KazMicroFinance (KMF) as a for-profit microfinance lender and transferred its growing microfinance portfolio to KMF. The Kazakhstan Loan Fund was transformed into KMF Demeu, which has a mission to support financial education and charitable activities. KMF Demeu has provided financial literacy training to over 6,000 entrepreneurs and 140,000 retail clients. KMF Demeu also remains the largest shareholder of KMF. Learn more at demeufund.kz/en.
TAJIKISTAN: MDO ARVAND
Microcredit Deposit Organization (MDO) Arvand is a limited liability company established by MicroInvest in 2008, with additional equity funding from Frontiers. MDO Arvand provides individual and group loans to women entrepreneurs and micro and small enterprises located in rural and peri-urban areas of Tajikistan. It also provides deposit and remittances services. MDO Arvand has a loan portfolio of over $35 million, and over 42,000 clients. In 2019, it received a full banking license from the National Bank of Tajikistan. MDO Arvand has received equity investment and technical assistance from international investors, including Frontiers, Triodos and Incofin. In 2024, international investors from Japan became new shareholders, demonstrating international interest in MDO Arvand. Learn more at arvand.tj/en.
AV VENTURES IMPACT INVESTING FUNDS
AV Ventures manages four impact investing funds:
- Kenya: The Impact for Kenya (INK) Fund
- Ghana: The AV Ventures Ghana Fund
- Central Asia: The Central Asia Impact (CAIF) Fund
- Burkina Faso: The SELEVER Impact Fund
See more details on each fund.
