The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), a UK-based organization that invests in support of market-oriented economic policies, recently lent the local-currency equivalent of USD 2 million to Imon International, an institution that offers microcredit and deposit services with the aim of improving its clients’ standards of living as well as promoting economic development in Tajikistan. The loan will be used to support women who manage micro-, small or medium-sized enterprises or who otherwise are active in food production.
The loan is part of EBRD’s Women in Business Programme, which was launched in Tajikistan in 2017 with an investment of USD 10 million. It is also active in 16 other countries.
Additionally, Imon is a partner of the EBRD-EU “Enhanced Competitiveness of Tajik Agribusiness Programme,” which was launched in 2016 with a budget of USD 50 million.
As of 2016, Imon had total assets of USD 109 million, a gross loan portfolio of USD 81 million, USD 22 million in deposits, 98,000 active borrowers and 7,240 depositors. Imon International was originally created by the National Association of Business Women of Tajikistan and US-based NGO Mercy Corps to empower entrepreneurial women. Imon received a license from the National Bank of Tajikistan to operate as a microcredit deposit-taking organization in 2013 and became independent of Mercy Corps shortly thereafter.
By Ryan Gauthier, Research Associate
Sources and Additional Resources
EBRD press release:
http://www.ebrd.com/news/2017/us-2-million-in-tajik-somoni-to-imon-for-femalerun-msmes-and-farms.html
EBRD Women in Business Programme:
http://www.ebrd.com/women-in-business/finance-and-advice-for-women-in-business.html
Enhanced Competitiveness of Tajik Agribusiness Programme:
http://www.ebrd.com/cs/Satellite?c=Content&cid=1395254147802&pagename=EBRD%2FContent%2FContentLayout&rendermode=live
Imon International:
https://imon.tj/
This brief also contains information provided directly to MicroCapital by Mercy Corps.
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