The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, a financial institution headquartered in London, recently signed an agreement to loan USD 15 million to AccessBank, a microfinance institution in Azerbaijan. AccessBank plans to disburse the senior loan over a five-year period to expand its lending services to micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) operating in regions of the country outside of the capital, Baku. The loan also is expected to improve the diversification and maturity of funding sources used by AccessBank. The interest rate to be charged on the loan has not been released.
AccessBank is owned by six organizations: the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development (20 percent), an institution owned by 61 countries and two intergovernmental institutions; the International Finance Corporation (20 percent), the investment arm of the World Bank Group; the Black Sea Trade and Development Bank (20 percent), a financial institution with eleven European member countries; German Development Bank KfW Bankengruppe (20 percent); Access Microfinance Holding AG (16.53 percent), a commercial microfinance holding company based in Germany; and LFS Financial Systems GmbH (3.47 percent), a German consulting and management company that focuses on microfinance projects. As of December 2011, AccessBank reported to the US-based nonprofit Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX) total assets of USD 488 million, a gross loan portfolio of USD 378 million and approximately 120,000 borrowers.
The 27 Azerbaijani MFIs that reported 2010 data to the US-based Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX) held an aggregate gross loan portfolio of USD 1.4 billion disbursed to approximately 385,000 borrowers.
By Charlotte Newman, Research Associate
About AccessBank
AccessBank was founded in 2002 as the Micro Finance Bank of Azerbaijan (MFBA) and was renamed AccessBank in 2008. AccessBank is owned by six organizations: the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development (20 percent), an institution owned by 61 countries and two intergovernmental institutions; the International Finance Corporation (20 percent), the investment arm of the World Bank Group; the Black Sea Trade and Development Bank (20 percent), a financial institution with eleven European member countries; Germany’s KfW Bankengruppe (20 percent); Access Microfinance Holding AG (16.53 percent), a commercial microfinance holding company based in Germany; and LFS Financial Systems GmbH (3.47 percent), a German consulting and management company that focuses on microfinance projects. As of December 2011, AccessBank reported to the US-based nonprofit Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX) total assets of USD 488 million, a gross loan portfolio of USD 378 million and approximately 120,000 borrowers. As of December 2010, AccessBank reported return on assets of 7.68 percent return on equity of 40.14 percent, deposits to loans of 46.26 percent and deposits to total assets of 34.61 percent.
About European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is a development finance institution headquartered in London. The bank began operations in 1991 upon the agreement of 40 countries and is now owned by 61 countries as well as the European Investment Bank and the European Union. It aims to finance operations that are both commercially viable and assist development in 29 countries in Eastern Europe, Central Asia and more recently in Southern and Eastern Mediterranean region. It does this by providing loans, debt securities, equity investments, guarantees and technical assistance to micro- and small businesses via commercial banks and non-bank microfinance institutions (MFIs). In 2010, EBRD invested in 386 projects with a total value of EUR 22 billion (USD 30.2 billion).
Sources and Additional Resources:
Information sent to MicroCapital from AccessBank: Press Release: “AccessBank Signs USD 15 mln Loan With EBRD.”
MicroCapital.org story, March 23, 2012, “MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Institution AccessBank of Azerbaijan Increases Share Capital to $108m,” https://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-brief-microfinance-institution-accessbank-of-azerbaijan-increases-share-capital-to-108m/
MicroCapital.org story, March 2, 2012, “MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Institution AccessBank of Azerbaijan Offers Vehicle Insurance,” https://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-brief-microfinance-institution-accessbank-of-azerbaijan-offers-vehicle-insurance/
MicroCapital Universe Profile: AccessBank
https://www.microcapital.org/microfinanceuniverse/tiki-index.php?page=AccessBank
MicroCapital Universe Profile: European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
https://www.microcapital.org/microfinanceuniverse/tiki-index.php?page=European+Bank+for+Reconstruction+and+Development+%28EBRD%29
Browse the MicroCapital Universe and add your entry to the wiki at https://www.microcapital.org/microfinanceuniverse/
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