TA 7523-UZB Capacity Building for Microfinance Development

MSL provided the services of one of each international and national consultant throughout the TA and was involved in the following activities: i) Developed a conceptual framework for PCBs microfinance lending within the conceptual framework of ADB’s sub-loan criteria, ii) Trained staff of PCBs in microfinance, small business credit, micro-leasing, accounting and reporting standards of microfinance operations, lending to MCOs, migrant workers’ remittances marketing, collateral-free lending, tangible collateral-free lending its substitution by other “collateral substitutes,” and other related services, iii) Recommended measures to the PCBs to manage their liquidity efficiently, to enable them to lend to their sub-borrowers in cash, iv) Encouraged the PCBs to make loans to at least three. MCOs during the TA, v) Sensitized (through training) the staff of PCBs in the special needs of lending prudently to women sub-borrowers, vi) Advised the PCBs on appropriate information reporting systems to monitor progress on lending against the background of ADB’s sub-loan criteria, and the training developed for the PCBs’ staff, vii) Recommended measures to PCBs to improve the transparency of their microfinance and micro and small business credit lending and related operations to enable their more effective outreach, viii) Conducted a baseline, sex-disaggregated survey of sample PCBs and MCOs’ sub-borrowers at the time of commencing their enterprises, for future assessment of the impact of the project on women and men, ix) Helped the PCBs gather the necessary information from their sub-borrowers for monitoring and reporting to ADB on the financial, gender, and poverty dimensions, x) Developed knowledge products to help women entrepreneurs xi) Built MCOs’ capacities for business-related activities, including the following: (a) built capacity  of MCOs to enable them to attract funds from formal institutional sources and of onward lending to microfinance borrowers, and (b) facilitated credit rating of MCOs and savings and credit unions (SCUs) to enable their wholesale lending and improve the outreach of the credit line.