Zar Wardak

Zar Wardak is FINCA Impact Finance’s Vice President & Division Director, where she leads the network’s operations in Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Jordan Kosovo and Tajikistan.

Prior to becoming Division Director, Zar served as Regional Director for the Middle East and South Asia Region. Under Zar’s leadership, FINCA’s operations in the MESA region expanded to cover two full-service microfinance institutions and one bank, each of which now has more than 25,000 clients. FINCA Impact Finance has also become a catalyst for women’s economic empowerment in the MESA region—61% of FINCA Afghanistan clients are women; in Jordan, that number is 92%. Most recently, Zar helped introduce SimSim, an e-wallet now being used by over 100,000 previously unbanked or underbanked users in Pakistan. SimSim launched in 2016 and has contributed to financial inclusion in Pakistan while keeping FINCA at the forefront of Fintech innovation.