BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 19
By Fidan Babayeva - Trend:
The Azerbaijan Micro-finance Association (AMFA) has increased the financial literacy of about 1,000 agricultural producers over the past two years, Jalal Aliyev, chairman of AMFA board, told Trend.
“The association has helped improve business planning skills for entrepreneurs across the country over the past two years,” the chairman said.
"AMFA will work to develop new services for its members to increase financial inclusion in Azerbaijan," Aliyev said. “The association is implementing the projects to improve financial inclusion, financial literacy for micro and small entrepreneurs.”
As an example, Aliyev highlighted the Sustainable Development of Women Entrepreneurs project, which is part of a broader program to promote the active and effective participation of civil society organizations in the design and implementation of the national agenda to achieve the goals in the field of sustainable development taking into account gender factors, as well as strengthening gender equality and the expansion of women’s rights and opportunities.
"The Azerbaijan Microfinance Association has implemented more than 50 international projects,” Aliyev said. “Among the main spheres of activity of AMFA in 2021 will be the stimulation of women's entrepreneurship."
Microfinance was introduced in Azerbaijan in the mid-1990s to meet the economic needs of up to one million internally displaced people and refugees who appeared as a result of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
The International NGO Group began to offer microfinance services to low-income, war-affected communities to create opportunities for getting income and employment in 1996.
The process of holding informal meetings was launched to exchange business experience and remove restrictions on the issuance of loans at interest rates.
The members of the International NGO Group decided to formalize the group as an association that will act as a coordination center on microfinance in Azerbaijan in December 2001.
----
Follow the author on Twitter: Fidan_Babaeva
