Minivans Deliver Microcredit to Bulgaria’s Remote Regions
On June 19, Thomas Fleetwood Mefford, USAID Deputy Assistant Administrator for Europe and Eurasia, inaugurated the first “mobile” branches of the Nachala microfinance institution at a ceremony in Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria. Two minivans equipped with laptop computers and printers from the recently completed USAID Financial Sector Integrity Project will help Nachala expand its reach into rural areas by enabling loan officers to meet with clients in the northeast and southwest regions of the country and reduce the time for loan disbursement to those in remote locations.
Since it was started in 1997, Nachala has lent more than $20 million to roughly 10,000 small Bulgarian businesses. About half its loans are taken out by women. USAID has invested $4 million in the organization, which is now self-sustaining.
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| (From left) USAID Deputy Assistant Administrator Thomas Fleetwood Mefford stands with the Mayor of Blagoevgrad Lazar Prichkapov and the Director of Nachala Petar Anraudov in front of one of Nachala’s newly-outfitted “mobile branches” |
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