Programme for Sustainable Development in Rural Mountain Areas

Programme for Sustainable Development in Rural Mountain Areas

The recently approved programme is designed to mobilize additional resources in Albania ’s mountain areas, to accelerate economic growth and poverty reduction, and to strengthen the capacities of local institutions and organizations to influence and support private and public sector investment. In line with IFAD’s overall objectives, it has a pro-poor orientation and favours investments that stimulate income-generating rural enterprises and employment opportunities, particularly for women.

The programme targets underemployed and unemployed rural men and women, small and medium-sized farmers and rural entrepreneurs. To achieve its goals, the programme will position the Mountain Area Development Agency (MADA) to act as a regional development agency at the level of European Union standards, and it will support the conversion of the Mountain Areas Finance Fund (MAFF) into a rural commercial bank, to give rural poor people access to a full range of financial services. IFAD funds will finance regional programme development, supporting:

• networking and promotion to ensure MADA’s place among international development organizations
• studies, analysis and research required to establish MADA as a national knowledge base for mountain areas
• communities’ participation in their own development

With the aim of developing the private sector, the programme will support business promotion and financial linkages, innovative strategic investment programmes, field implementation and testing of investment approaches, as well as the transformation and expansion of MAFF. The conversion of MAFF, adhering to Bank of Albania requirements, would progressively transform the public foundation into a fully licensed rural commercial bank after mid-2007. While offering banking services to a wider public, the new bank would continue to focus on rural and mountain areas.

IFAD’s investments in the activities and restructuring of MADA will reflect the performance-based criteria of overall programme criteria. A strategic institutional investor is expected to participate in the process of transformation of MAFF and in subsequent financing of the new bank.

Source: IFAD