History and Impact:
Since 1999, Komak has established relations with the World Bank, Kiva, Danish Refugee Council, Social Fund for Development of Internally Displaced People in Azerbaijan, PLANIS, IKA and TURAN Bank, and has disbursed hundreds of loans to borrowers throughout the country.
Today, Komak has 4 field offices: in Baku, Azerbaijan's capital, Absheron, the most densely populated peninsula, Khachmaz (northern most city), and Fizuli (a rural region). All branch offices are engaged full time in providing microfinance services to internally displaced persons (IDPs) and other low income groups of Azerbaijan (IDPs are refugees who have not crossed an international border).
In 2007, the Mix Market, a leading source of performance data on MFIs around the world, awarded Komak a certificate of transparency with 5 diamonds, the highest award given. In 2009, Komak was cited in a report by the United Nations General Assembly as one of Azerbaijan's prominent forces in restoring the local economy by enabling small and medium enterprises with credit.
As of 2010, Komak serves more than 1,600 active members. Out of these clients, 80% are IDPs, 41% are female clients, 46% of clients are engaged in trading businesses, 37% in animal breeding, 12% in the service sector, 3% in small scale production, and 2% in other agricultural affairs. Komak's total outstanding portfolio is approximately $2.4 million USD and the average loan amount is $1,580.
Komak began fund-raising on Kiva at the end of 2006. Since then, they have lent over $2 million to 1757 borrowers through Kiva.
Despite the success of Komak's work, the demand for microfinance services remains very high. The population of Azerbaijan's rural regions face a difficult economic situation where the unemployment rate reaches 30%. Furthermore, access to credit is low due to the dearth of credit organizations working in the region.
In order for Komak to achieve better outreach in serving IDP families and female clients, serve new regions of the country, and improve its financial and organizational sustainability there is a need for additional funding.
Komak can be reached via email at komak_ki@mail.ru
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| Komak & Kiva staff: Elnur, Yelena (Kiva fellow), Afitab, Patricia (Kiva Regional Director), Aydin (director), and Aliabbas. |
