Afghanistan Banks Association

د افغانستان د بانکونو ټولنه
Afghanistan Banks Association
Voice of The Banks

Afghanistan Banks Association

Kabul Access to Finance (A2F) Business to Bank Conference and Roundtable

Date: March 24-25, 2014

During March 24-25, 2014, Afghanistan Banks Association (ABA) with the support from USAID's Financial Access for Investing in the Development of Afghanistan (FAIDA) project held a two-day A2F Business to Bank Conference and Roundtable in Kabul to introduce the entrepreneurs with loan facilitation opportunities, sector development through business planning, contract farming best practices, financing mechanism, mobile money and roundtable discussions. The event provided opportunity to Kabul province enterprises and financial institutions to exchange their viewpoints in identifying challenges and opportunities in improving production, access to markets and finance. Invitees included public and private sector representatives engaged in multi sector trading, production, export and financing activities. In the event, Mr. Ahmad Javed Wafa, ABA Director Economic Research, Mr. Abdul Hasib Rahimi, Executive Director of Kabul Chamber of Commerce and Industries (KCCI), 60 businesses, 9 banks and MFIs participated. The businesses that are interested to take loan from banks/MFIs were facilitated with the loan procedures.

Mr. Wafa welcomed the participants and addressed on the evolution of the banking sector in Afghanistan. Furthermore, he discussed brief overview of the reforms in the banking sector and its strengths. He emphasized on the role of ABA in banking sector, its activities and plans. He added that such events provide a good platform for entrepreneurs/SMEs that had never got a chance to discuss their financial needs and know about various banks products and services at once.

Mr. Abdul Hasib Rahimi, Executive Director of KCCI welcomed the participants, thanked from regular support of ABA and USAID/FAIDA with businesses and banks in Afghanistan. He discussed the role of KCCI in Kabul private business facilitation and development, he encouraged businesses to participate in business to bank events to talk directly with banks and access financing for their business expansions and liquidity shortages.

9 banks and MFIs participated in the event to introduce their products and services to entrepreneurs and pick potential applicants from the event. The participating banks and MFIs in the event were Afghanistan International Bank (AIB), Afghanistan Commercial Bank (ACB), Afghan United Bank (AUB), Azizi Bank, Bakhtar Bank, Bank-e-Millie Afghan (BMA), Ghazanfar Bank, Oxus Afghanistan and The First Microfinance Bank of Afghanistan (FMFB-A).