First investment in Afghanistan
1 November 2006 - After more than two decades of war and political instability Afghanistan now finds itself in the fragile process of reconstruction and development. In May 2002 the non-governmental organisation BRAC opened its first office in Kabul and launched an extensive set of development programmes designed to serve the disadvantaged people of war-torn Afghanistan. Since then the NGO has built the largest microfinance operation in the country with 98,000 active members, mostly women, and a loan portfolio of USD 5.5 million.
BRAC currently runs its Afghanistan microfinance programme as a registered international NGO. BRAC has also applied for a commercial bank license. The rationale for starting a bank is to be able to mobilise deposits in order to fund a sustainable nationwide operation. The plan is to transform part of the current operations, the small enterprise lending programme, into the bank.
Other investors in BRAC Afghanistan Bank alongside Triodos-Doen are ShoreCap, IFC and BRAC. BRAC Afghanistan Bank received its banking license in October 2006 and has been capitalised with USD 6 million.
The security situation across the country and in particular Kabul remains a challenge as does unemployment, the wide gap in income levels, internal revenue generation, corruption, skill levels, regulatory framework and albeit the larger shadow economy.
Marilou van Golstein Brouwers, managing director International Funds at Triodos Bank who will also be a member of the Board of Directors of BRAC Afghanistan Bank: ‘This makes the risks involved with this investment higher than average. However, with the NGO, BRAC has proven there is a good market potential to make this investment into a success together with trusted and experienced partners. Of course we hope that eventually the security situation in Afghanistan will improve again and that BRAC Bank Afghanistan can play a positive role in changing people’s lives.’
- Contact us
- You can send us an e-mail, find the addresses of our offices or request a brochure.