Oxus Microfinance Network

OXUS Development Network (ODN) is at the heart of the network formed by OXUS microfinance institutions (MFIs) and the various microfinance initiatives led by the OXUS Group. This consulting company was set up in Paris in 2006 in order to manage and support OXUS MFIs and be at the forefront of the Group’s efforts to contribute to the global development of microfinance.

Supervising OXUS MFIs and consolidating the OXUS Group

ODN’s primary task is the financial management of the OXUS Group and the supervision of the different OXUS MFIs. ODN is responsible for providing these MFIs with technical assistance and standardising their procedures, products and methods. ODN is also in charge of the OXUS Group’s auditing and internal control processes. Finally, ODN works at representing and promoting the OXUS brand by designing coherent and effective communication tools and campaigns.

At the heart of the development of the OXUS Group, ODN implements the Board of Directors’ strategic priorities. This involves managing the resources with which OXUS plans to achieve its goal of providing financial services to over 500,000 clients in 12 different countries by the year 2015. By building on the complementary activities of ACTED in nearly 40 post-crisis countries, ODN will establish solid MFIs which are to provide investors with financial returns within five years after launching their activities.

Contributing to the global development of microfinance

Through a variety of initiatives, the OXUS Group aims at contributing positively to the global development of the microfinance sector. As part of this process, ODN offers to put its expertise of the microfinance sector and post-conflict environments at the service of other MFIs. ODN has already provided technical assistance and strategic advising to Banking With the Poor (BWTP) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) by carrying out studies on the feasibility of microfinance interventions by these two organisations, respectively in Myanmar and Southern Sudan.

When beginning its activities, OXUS was confronted to the technical, management information system (MIS) challenges of microfinance. Faced with the high cost and poor effectiveness of available software, the OXUS Group shared the difficulties of many MFIs. In response to this issue, ODN developed a partnership with OCTO to develop OCTOPUS – an open source, highly adaptable software for microfinance. ODN is now fully in charge of the development of OCTOPUS, and it offers technical and IT assistance to all MFIs wishing to adapt the software to their exact needs.