Afghanistan > Ariana Financial Services Joint Stock Company (AFS), a partner of Mercy Corps

About the Field Partner

Field Partner:	Ariana Financial Services Joint Stock Company (AFS), a partner of Mercy Corps
Field Partner Risk Rating:	(Learn more)
Time On Kiva:	34 months
Kiva Entrepreneurs:	2366
Total Loans:	$1,054,875
Delinquency Rate:	0.00%
Default Rate:	0.00%
Currency Exchange Loss Rate:	0.00%
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Kiva Fundraising Status

Fundraising Status:	Active
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Other Information Sources

MIX Profile:	View MIX Profile
Network Affiliation:	Mercy Corps
Social Performance Reporting Level:	N/A
Consumer Protection Principles:	N/A
Field Partner Website:	None
Email Contact:	None

Mission: To provide high quality and fair priced savings and loan products to our clients, which will increase their incomes, expand their businesses and improve their quality of life.

Vision: To be a nationally and internationally recognized financial services institution. AFSG staff will be client-oriented, honest, innovative and professional. AFSG will introduce and implement international best practices and operational standards to achieve financial and technical self-sufficiency, in the shortest time possible.

More Detailed History:

Five years after September 11th, 2001 the challenges Afghanistan faces remain formidable.

After decades of destruction, drought and under-investment, poverty is wide spread and deeply entrenched. 70% of Afghans live on less than 2 USD a day and the average income per year lies at about 300 USD . Sustained economic growth is necessary to address this great level of poverty and to provide Afghan people with a better, and more secure future Mercy Corps recognized the great need for financial services for the poor and in May 2003 founded “Ariana Financial Services Group”, one of the first Microfinance institutions in Afghanistan with a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Since its launch Ariana has supported over 18,932 clients with a total of 3.69.000 USD in loans. Currently, Ariana has 6169 active clients with a total loan value of 847,718 USD. Clients run micro-enterprises in all areas of Afghan life; i.e. weaving, carpentry, tailoring, hair dressing, food processing, florists, kite production, knitting, leather working or animal husbandry. Making barely enough to live on, many Afghan micro-enterprises are unable to provide collateral for a loan. Ariana therefore primarily works over solidarity group lending, where a group of 4 – 8 people jointly receive a loan and are as a group accountable should a member default. The social pressure created by the group has proven to be highly effective when it comes to loan repayments.

Only 0.5% of Ariana’s portfolio is considered to be at risk under 30 days – a very low rate that many commercial banks would be proud to achieve. Ariana’s average loan size works out to be about 200 USD. Group loans start at 7500 AFG (about 150 USD) with a flat interest rate of 2% per month. A group must have successfully repaid their loan to be able to qualify for more credit, which can at most be 40% higher than the previous loan. Once clients have successfully taken part in 4 cycles of group loans, they can apply for an individual loan. In Nov 2005 Ariana has started to grant loans to individuals and so far 2.5% of clients are holding individual loans.

Ariana predominantly supports female entrepreneurs who are heading thire families (widows, returnees and those whose husbands are unable to work due to a disability. Historically, Ariana started working in district 7 of Kabul, which had been heavily damaged during the war and was home to many war refugee.

Today 82% of Ariana’s clients continue to be women. Ariana’s emphasis on women has several reasons: Women are one of the most vulnerable social groups in Afghanistan.

To view their MIX Market Profile, click here: http://www.mixmarket.org/en/demand/demand.show.profile.asp?token=&ett=1701

Ariana Financial Services can be contacted via email at ssadat@mercycorpsfield.org