Amal Microfinance is socially motivated core banking services and part of the Bank’s overall Corporate Social Responsibility commitments. At Amal Bank, we believe that the poor can fuel the growth of the overall financial industry in Somalia. In fact, responding to unmet demand and combining the Islamic social principle of caring for the less fortunate with microfinance to provide financial access to the poor is strategically necessary for Amal Bank. Moreover, we pride ourselves for being the only bank in Somalia focused on transforming lives and communities while creating visible and accessible initiatives to help economically active people work their way up the economic ladder as reflected in our slogan, ‘Your Future. Our Mission’.

Consequently, to promote financial inclusion, financial literacy/education and micro-entrepreneurship activities in Somalia we launched Amal Microfinance in partnership with International Labor Organization (ILO) and Local Economic Forums (LED) in July 2015. Following a strategic partnership with Central Bank of Somalia (CBS) in 2017, we also launched a $400,000 microfinance program focused on family empowerment targeted at women who are economically active in Somalia. From the pilot phase in 2015, Amal Bank has allocated, disbursed or plan to disburse over $670,000 in interest free loans to different (Women, Men and Youth) economically active people in Somalia.

The objective of Amal Microfinance is to provide complementary services to Amal Bank as we focus on impact-oriented goals and pursue a savings-led approach. We believe successfully integrating a poverty-alleviation platform into regular banking operations and remittance services will give us access to untapped, unbanked and underbanked growing market. This will enable the poor in Somalia to access financial products and services that are consistent with Islamic financial principles in order to transform their lives and communities.

Matching Profits and Social Impact

Our concern for society’s bottom half doesn’t conflict with our bottom line because Amal Bank is not just driven by profit potential, we value social responsibilities too. When it comes to microfinance, we are driven by three bottom lines: financial inclusion (access to savings and credit), financial literacy/education and entrepreneurship activities. Running a commercially viable financial institution that doubles as social and economic change agent is not a mission drift. We believe it’s possible both to make money and provide essential financial services for low-income households and microenterprises—doing well by doing good.

Microfinance in Somalia is still in its infancy, with no financial institution reaching a regional level let alone a national level compared to other countries. Most of the Somali MSMEs struggle to get access to affordable capital due to lack of financial track record, collateral or affordable financial products and services. Accordingly, to achieve what we aspire for or what we believe in and have significant positive development impact, improve access to, and utilization of financial services:

  • We welcome government and donor assistance as a complement rather than a substitute for market-oriented imitative.
  • We cover the cost of providing microfinance services through support from our partners and subsidies from Amal Bank.
  • We have invested in branch network to leverage our geographical footprint to effectively and efficiently reach more micro-entrepreneurs in urban and rural Somalia.
  • We have fine-tuned our lending approaches to fit the unique characteristics of micro-entrepreneurs and low-income households.
  • We continue to increase and broaden our strategic partners and doubled our fund development initiatives to diversify our loanable funds.
  • We utilize business discipline and financial techniques to achieve the goal of scale and sustainability in serving the financial needs of the un-banked poor.
  1. OUTSTANDING PORTFOLIO:

TOTAL: $697,000

 

  1. ACTIVE BORROWERS:

TOTAL: 1,259

 

  1. # OF ACTIVE MICRO-SAVERS:

TOTAL: 1,524

 

  1. AVERAGE LOAN SIZE:

AVERAGE: $552

 

  1. % OF FEMALE CLIENTS:

AVERAGE: 95%

 

  1. % OF MALE CLIENTS:

AVERAGE: 5%

 

  1. % OF YOUTH CLIENTS:

AVERAGE: 10%

Partners since 2015. Amal Bank and International Labor Organization (ILO) are in partnership to alleviate poverty and provide inclusive financial services that transform lives and communities while expanding opportunities for economically active poor in Somalia.

Partners since 2017. Amal Bank and the Central Bank of Somalia (CBS) are in partnership to promote financial inclusion and education in order to build a financial footprint and entrepreneurship opportunities for the unbanked majority in Somalia.

Partners since 2016. Amal Bank and UN Women are in partnership to empower the economically active poor women in Somalia by promoting the financial inclusion of women, and to support the growth of Micro, Small to Medium enterprises (MSME’s) run by women through Microfinance loans.

Partners since 2016. Amal Bank and Spark are in partnership to promote Somali diaspora entrepreneurship, innovative business ideas and to empower young entrepreneurs in Somalia.

Partners since 2015. Amal Bank engages Local Economic Development forum (LED) and key stakeholders (Local Authorities, Private Sector and NGOs) to create economic opportunities for local population.

Partners since 2017. Amal Foundation is Amal Group’s vehicle for social responsibility and the charitable arm of Amal Group. The Foundation is organized and operated exclusively for the charitable purpose of supporting education, healthcare, entrepreneurship and financial inclusion and literacy in Somalia.