CEO’s Message
“My heartfelt thanks go to our loyal customers who continue to trust us to deliver the best banking experience even during these challenging times. I extend my compliments to all of our stakeholders, especially the customers, for having confidence in FMFB-A. We will continue to drive excellent business performance to add value to our shareholders.”
This is a historic milestone for the First MicroFinance Bank-Afghanistan (FMFB-A), as we successfully complete 18 years of operations and I take this opportunity to thank you intensely for being an integral part of this journey, as a customer and as an advocate of our unique people-friendly banking model.
Having commenced our journey on 2004, your Bank has seen strong progress, which was primarily fueled by the growing support and confidence of our valued customers, which today count over 230,000. Within these 18 years, we have crossed AFN 12 Billion in Total Assets, while growing our outreach to 37 Branches in 14 provinces and 80 districts across the country
Our performance has enabled us to build a strong track record of profitability for many years. We are humbled by the various awards in recognition of our progress which includes ‘The Best Microfinance Bank in Afghanistan’ by the Global Business Outlook, ‘The Most Innovative Bank in Women Empowerment” by World Business Outlook, and ‘Financial Transparency Award’ by the CGAP and ‘Microfinance for Housing Award’ by the European Microfinance.
Despite the unfavorable circumstances the pandemic brought and political changes in the country, it is remarkable how much we have accomplished, both in terms of financial performance and our dedication and innovation toward our client base.
Despite a number of challenges in the country as stood with our staff and customers at most difficult times Similarly, our compliance department was able to develop and revise policies and procedures for better governance helping to fight money laundering and terrorist financing. We were also able to expand and introduce new products and services during these challenging circumstances the Bank was able to achieve certain milestones such as the expansion of ATMs deployment, AfPay Card issuance, online banking, SMS banking, Mobile App, Banking through E Wallet, Debit MasterCard and many others as part of its digital transformation strategy which aims to improve access, usage, and quality of banking in Afghanistan.
We were also able to reposition the Bank in a very short period of time as Shariah Compliant entity to continue serving the communities through Islamic Banking products and services under very difficult circumstances when people of Afghanistan need humanitarian support more than ever, today we are happy to share that we have re-started financing MSMEs after a period one year and gradually our Islamic portfolio is growing with quality. Over past one and half year after the political changes in the country our deposit base has been continuously growing and for the first time in the history of the Bank, our total deposit has reached its highest level so far and we will be working hard to continue serving our clients under very difficult time with best customer service.
I am proud of the progress we have made thus far and it would be only right to take this opportunity and extend my sincere gratitude and appreciation to our Board of Supervisors, Management Team, and staff, the backbone of our institution. It is the passion and professionalism of our staff members which has enabled our progress at this point and will remain a key constituent in future endeavors. I would also extend my gratitude to all our local and international partners for their support during this unprecedented year.
Finally, my heartfelt thanks go to our loyal customers who continue to trust us to deliver the best banking experience even during these challenging times. We will continue to drive excellent business performance to add value to our shareholders.
Ziauddin Haidari,
CEO