DUSHANBE, July 17, 2009, Asia-Plus — Registered with the Ministry of Justice last week, a new microfinance bank, AccessBank Tajikistan, has no yet got operating license from the National Bank of Tajikistan, the NBT head Sharif Rahimzoda told reporters in Dushanbe yesterday.
Asked about possible influence of this microfinance bank on the country’s banking system, Rahimzoda said, “To find its niche in our banking system, financial institution with initial capital of 11 million US dollars such as AccessBank Tajikistan will have to expend three or four strenuous years.” According to him, the bank will need at least one year to establish and expand loan relations with customers and begin functioning normally.
Rahimzoda noted that appearance of new banks would not influence the country’s system as a whole. He added that two foreign banks had opened their representatives office in Tajikistan over the first six months of this year – Russia’s Rosselkhobank and Latvia’s Trustkommertzbank.
According to Tajik central bank, twelve commercial banks, including thee foreign ones, seven credit societies, one no-bank loan organization and 101 microfinance organizations now function in Tajikistan.
We will recall four international financial organizations signed the founding documents for the new AccessBank Tajikistan on July 9. The new bank will be a resident bank under Tajik law and be supervised by the National Bank of Tajikistan. Its initial capital will be 48 million somoni.
AccessMicrofinance Holding AG of Germany will hold a 52 % share, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) will hold 18% each and the German Development Bank KfW will hold 12%.
The bank will be managed by an experienced international management team. However, the lion share of staff will be Tajik citizens. The future CEO of AccessBank, Christoph Ziegler of Germany, expects that the registration and licensing process will move smoothly and the bank can start operations by autumn 2009.
AccessBank will promote the development of the private sector and the low and medium income population of Tajikistan. It will initially offer micro-loans, agribusiness loans, and money transfer services. The bank will later diversify its portfolio with new products, including small loans, savings and deposit products and credit cards. To facilitate the access to finance for entrepreneurs in rural areas, AccessBank will develop a strong regional presence in Tajikistan. It plans to open 17 branches outside of the capital, Dushanbe. Grant funds from governments of Austria, Germany, Japan and Luxemburg will be used to provide technical assistance to AccessBank for regional expansion and the optimal development of products suitable for the Tajik population.
