Aga Khan Agency for Microfinance - About the Aga Khan Agency for Microfinance (AKAM)
Aga Khan Development Network
 


AKAM home

About AKAM

Key Figures

Country reviews

Product Overview

Microinsurance

Products for SMEs

Housing Finance

Case studies

Contact information

Other AKDN agencies

Rss

About the Aga Khan Agency for Microfinance (AKAM)

The Aga Khan Agency for Microfinance (AKAM) is part of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN). For more than 60 years, various agencies of the AKDN offered microfinance products and services through integrated development programmes and self-standing microfinance institutions. Today, these programmes have been brought together under AKAM administration, but AKAM still works closely with the other AKDN agencies as part of coordinated area development programmes.

AKAM aims to help people become self-reliant and eventually gain the skills needed to graduate to the mainstream financial markets.AKAM aims to help people become self-reliant and eventually gain the skills needed to graduate to the mainstream financial markets.

Overview
AKAM’s primary objectives are to reduce poverty, diminish the vulnerability of poor populations and alleviate economic and social exclusion. It aims to help people become self-reliant and eventually gain the skills needed to graduate into the mainstream financial markets. This endeavour is governed by principles of long-term sustainability, efficiency and financial discipline. Operating in both rural and urban settings, AKAM’s programmes have helped poor people from a variety of cultures and backgrounds to expand their incomes and improve their quality of life.

AKAM operates today in 13 countries and its institutions offer a full range of products, such as simple individual or group loans, housing microfinance, microinsurance products and loans for Small and Medium Enterprise activity.

2007 in Focus
For the Aga Khan Agency for Microfinance (AKAM), 2007 was characterised by continued growth, sustained strong portfolio performance, a significant expansion in the range of products, improved governance and stronger institutions, and further progress towards overall sustainability. AKAM continued to pursue its mandate of lifting populations out of poverty through innovative product design, effective management and the introduction of new initiatives designed to enhance access to financial services for poor and low-income households. Human resources and institutional strengthening were also priorities for the year, in order to set the stage for rapid growth over 2008-10.

During 2007, AKAM grew its activities by 61 percent in value and 67 percent in number and surpassed US$ 110 million. Its affiliates maintained their focus on servicing the poor excluded from the traditional financial sector, as the average disbursed loan size diminished by 5 percent while the overall percentage of women borrowers decreased slightly. For more key figures, please see the Key Figures page.

Back to top