MFI Report

The Al Takadum Non-Governmental Organization (NGO), which in English means “to go forward”, is registered with the Iraqi NGO Office of the Ministry of Civil Affairsmid 2007 and its unique among Iraqi MFIs in terms of its governing and management structure. there are three branches in Al Takadum ,each of the three branches, spread widely across the Al Anbar Province, functions as if it was an autonomous MFI. Apart from its registration as one NGO and a single governing Board of Directors, each branch manages its own affairs with little interaction.The only type of loan product Takadum offers is for individuals, no group loans. All lending is done on the Murabaha basis; i.e., Islamic principles , the main challenges :The individual loan products were developed in a conflict environment which required a risk adverse methodology with guarantee arrangements that were seen as secure. These arrangements do not conform to the more classical definitions and configurations of microfinance. Solidarity groups or any type of group lending has not been explored, therefore no final assessment can be provided. Depth of outreach has not been met due to security considerations. Further, average loan sizes are much higher than in classical microfinance. This is largely due to the fact that the per capita income in Iraq is so much higher than countries where most microfinance is practiced Lending and guarantees are also challenged by the poor security situation in Al Takadum area of operation. As a result, those served by Al Takadum can be considered the “vulnerable” or living in vulnerable areas (i.e. drought, conflict, etc.). Cacher