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The Business Recorder
30 July 2006
© 2006 The Business Recorder, All Rights Reserved

MircoFinanceBank awarded

The subsidiary of the World Bank, Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP) announced the 2006 transparency awards and The First MicroFinanceBank Limited (FMFB) was awarded the top winners award.

rom across the globe, more than 175 applications from Micro Finance Institutions (MFIs) from all over the world had applied. Of these, The First MicroFinanceBank Ltd, Pakistan in its fourth year of operations, was one of the 5 top institutions receiving the award. FMFB is one of the two from South East Asia and the only MFI from Pakistan.

Last year in June, The First MicroFinanceBank Ltd was awarded the international 'Honourable Mention' 2004 Financial Transparency Award by the CGAP.

In her message, Patricia Mwangi, Microfinance Specialist and Manager CGAP Financial Transparency Award said "Through sheer determination to win, FMFB has dramatically improved its financial reporting, becoming one of the five winners of the global 2005 CGAP Financial Transparency Award from a group of 175 applicants. Along the way, FMFB management exhibited an extraordinary commitment to learn and to develop its staff. Not only did FMFB request a CGAP consultant to help boost its reporting function, it made good on all of his recommendations, adapting best practice disclosure and becoming a model for other microfinance institutions in Pakistan and beyond", she added.

At a separate event held recently, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with The First MicroFinanceBank Ltd, Pakistan and Orix Leasing Pakistan Limited to help reduce poverty by providing financial support to women in Pakistan.

The Women's Access to Capital and Technology (WACT) project is funding this venture which aims to provide sustainable, accessible and pro-poor financial services to women all over the country.

UNDP Country Director Haoliang Xu said "This renewed partnership will ensure more easily accessible credit for women in Pakistan. We are confident that these initiatives will enable the further empowerment of women".

Through these partnerships approximately 10,000 women entrepreneurs in rural and urban areas will be targeted and a loan disbursement of more than Rs 150 million is expected to be disbursed by the end of 2006, he said.

As its core strategic initiative, The First Microfinance Bank Ltd (FMFB) in the second phase will develop and disseminate targeted financial education to micro entrepreneurs in rural and urban areas.

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