Global micro-entrepreneurship awards come to Afghanistan

As part of the United Nations International Year of Micro-credit 2005, the Afghan winners of the Global Micro-entrepreneurship Awards will be announced on Saturday at a ceremony at the Serena Hotel in the Afghan capital Kabul. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Afghan Micro-finance Association, and the Micro-finance Investment Support Facility for Afghanistan have coordinated the programme. The global awards programme has been taking place in over 30 countries alongside Afghanistan. “The aim of the micro-entrepreneurship awards is to promote small business and especially to recognise micro-entrepreneurs who are helping to lift the fortunes of their communities,” Adrian Edwards, a spokesman of United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said in Kabul. In Afghanistan, participating micro-entrepreneurs have presented their business success stories to micro-finance experts, and political and business leaders. After the preliminary round of selection, a shortlist of 12 finalists has been identified, according to a UNDP statement. "Prizes are being awarded in categories relating to agriculture, war widows, ex-combatants, alternative livelihoods, business outside Kabul, and returnees/refugees," Edwards explained. More than two decades of brutal civil war has seriously damaged the commercial infrastructures of the country. People are suffering from unemployment, poverty and a lack of essential assets to carry on trade activities. Profesor Taj Mohammad Akbar, a local commerce analyst and director of the Pashtany Tejaratee Bank, said the micro-credit system was essential for the economic growth of Afghan people. “The micro-credit system brings about instant growth in the incomes of the people,” Akbar explained, adding it would reduce the level of unemployment in Afghan community. Years of drought have seriously damaged agricultural infrastructures of Afghanistan. Thousands of fruit gardens have dried up, while scores of animals have died due to a severe lack of water in the post-conflict country. Therefore extending micro-credit to those affected would be instrumental in helping them recover their agricultural activities. Haji Saleh Mohammad, a 57-year-old resident of western Wardak province, while complaining about a lack of agricultural facilities in his area, said: "drought has severely hit our gardens, we need agricultural machinery and long-term loans to rehabilitate our farming land,” adding that residents were unable to afford such expenses.