Bank of Ethiopia, Gondar branch
The Amhara Credit and Saving Institution
(ACSI)
[pic]
Institutional Profile, Current Status and Future Strategy
Bahir Dar
May 2004
TABLE OF CONTENTS
FORWARD
1. BACKGROUND: VISION, MISSION, OBJECTIVES
2. GOVERNANCE & OWNERSHIP
3. PRODUCTS
4. TARGETING PRINCIPLES
5. OPERATIONAL MODALITIES
6. OUTREACH
7. FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE
8. FUTURE STRATEGY
9. CHALLENGES & RISKS
10. ANNEXES
• Performance Reports • External Audit Report
FORWARD
The Amhara regional state is one of the regions in the country where the rate of poverty is the highest. The Federal Rural Development Strategy put very high emphasis on microfinance as a key force in the poverty reduction struggle. ACSI believes that, with the support of its stakeholders, it can successfully dispose the heavy responsibilities it is being charged with in this struggle.
ACSI is currently reaching 8-10% of the economically active poor that is looking for microfinance service in the region, and with good repayment rates over the years. Some rightly argue how microfinance can be successfully run in regions like ours, serving very poor people, with little education, limited marketable skill, engaged largely in agriculture which is little served by modern technology and for the most part dependant on unreliable climate, facing very poor infrastructure (particularly the rood network), small and fragile market, with people earning very precarious income inflows, etc.
Some of the success stories can be attributed to the shared vision, commitment of staff, starting from the board all the way down to the Sub Branch officer, who work in a learning environment and also because of the all-round support ACSI can manage from those in rural areas: government, NGOs, community, etc. We hope this will continue. The outreach attained is, indeed, very high for a single