The
access of the poor to financial services is a
key issue in the framework of the 2015 United
Nations Millennium Development Goals aiming at
fighting for the poverty eradication.
The poor have two alternatives in
terms of access to financial services: local loan
lenders who usually provide loans at a very high
rate (minimum of 120% per year) and traditional
banks, when existing, which request some guarantees
which cannot usually be provided by the beneficiaries.
The international banking networks
are not involved in areas of crisis often called
grey zones due to their risk management, while
OXUS specifically focuses on them. ACTED historical
field presence is an added value in terms of knowledge
of the local context and somehow provides to OXUS
the scoring in terms of clients. However, it has
to be mentioned that the situation of these clients
is fragile due to the local situation and their
low incomes, usually below the poverty line.
Our strategy is to provide these
people with loans in order to encourage them to
create a small business. The incomes generated
from this business will allow them to give better
food to their family, to send a child to the university,
to prevent the exodus to Russia or to invest in
their activity. On the long run these people will
be independent from the foreign aid thanks to
their income-generating activity.
Download the ODN 2005 annual repport.
