The 2005 Aga Khan Agency for Microfinance Annual Report

initiative in microinsurance is seeking to develop products thatspecifically seek to safeguard the poor against loss of savings andincome as a result of family catastrophes such as death, long-termhospitalisation and business or crop loss.Microleasing: In some countries, AKAM is providing microleasingservices, enabling clients to purchase fixed assets and businessequipment for productive purposes. As they involve large capitalexpenditures, these loans can range from US$ 500 to US$ 10,000and be repaid within six months to three years.ABOVE: AKAM LOAN OFFICERS TRAVELMoney Transfer and Remittance Services: AKAM’s banks alsoprovide money transfer and remittance services to clients. Thisservice allows clients to transfer money inexpensively from onecity to another within a country or to remit funds internationallythrough the Swift payment system. These services are becomingchannels for proposing microcredit products to overseas clients,helping them to invest productively at home from abroad.TO REMOTE MOUNTAINOUS VILLAGES,SUCH AS CHON ALAI, KYRGYZSTAN.AKAM’S PROGRAMME CONTINUES TOGROW RAPIDLY IN THE COUNTRY.Small Business Loans: The most successful businesses will eventuallyevolve into small enterprises, which are more sophisticated,employ people outside the proprietor’s family and producea broader range of quality products that are sold in largergeographic areas. Microfinance institutions are ideally placed toreduce the financing gap that these budding small and mediumenterprises (SME) face before reaching a scale more attuned tothe mainstream financial markets. In collaboration with DeutscheEntwicklung Gesellschaft (DEG), AKAM is therefore piloting anSME Programme in Afghanistan. Once tested, this is expected tobecome a mainstream activity for the First MicroFinanceBanks.RIGHT: BY GRANTING CREDIT TO ENTREPRENEURS FOR THEEXPANSION OF PRODUCTIVE INFRASTRUCTURE, SUCH AS THISCEMENT AND BRICK FACTORY, AKAM’S PROGRAMME IN SYRIAHELPS RAISE INCOMES AND REDUCE UNEMPLOYMENT.17