The Amhara Credit and Saving Institution (ACSI): Institutional Profile, Current Status and Future Strategy

This paper discusses the following features of Amhara Credit and Savings Institution (ACSI):

• History, vision, mission, values, principles, and objectives;
• Rationale for its rural/agricultural focus;
• Ownership and governance, which include:
  • Organizational structure;
  • Client sense of ownership;
  • Control system;
  • Management information system.

The paper also studies the following:

• Products: credit, savings, money transfer, and pension fund management;
• Targeting principles for financial services;
• Operational modalities in terms of:
  • Loan size;
  • Group lending;
  • Repayment period and frequency.
• Worth, cost, depth, breadth, length, and scope of outreach.

The paper presents ACSI's financial performance in terms of:

• Profitability: operational and financial sustainability;
• Efficiency: administrative and labour efficiency;
• Loan portfolio analysis repayment rate, liquidity management;
• Interest rate analysis.

Discussing the future strategy, the paper highlights ACSI's:

• Product, client, and methodological diversification;
• Credit with education.

The paper concludes with a look at the challenges that ACSI faces, like the lack of:

• Skills;
• Demand for non-traditional activities;
• Credit for women;
• Infrastructure;
• Trained manpower.