Azerbaijan

Economy:
Azerbaijan is rich in natural resources, including oil, natural gas, and minerals. The country is only now beginning to tap this wealth. The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline inaugurated in May, 2006 is now operational, and will enable Azerbaijan to pump up to one million barrels of oil per day through to world markets. As a result, Azerbaijan's GDP is expected to double by 2010.

As yet, however, the benefits of growth have been enjoyed by only a small portion of the population. Some 49 percent of the population still lives under the poverty line. Many people lost their jobs in the wake of the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union; others lost their livelihoods and homes due to the war with Armenia. Some 41 percent of Azerbaijanis work in agriculture and 52 percent work in services; the industrial sector employs just seven percent.

Climate for microfinance:
•Microfinance services began to address the needs of the refugee population that arose from the Nagorno-Karabakh clash; services are still concentrated in the refugee corridor.
•FINCA Azerbaijan is the only MFI that operates at the national level.

FINCA Azerbaijan clients-often the key breadwinners in their families-are involved in trade (e.g., stands in regional bazaars), services (e.g., beauty salons and shoe repair), farming and other production. Some clients are internally displaced persons who lost their livelihoods in the conflict with Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh. Many others lost their jobs in the wake of the collapse of the USSR and its collective farm and state factories.