The conference paper presented at the First European International Conference on Microfinance, Brussels, July 2-4.
ACSI (Amhara Credit and Savings Institution) is one of the largest MFIs that are found in the world. ACSI won a number of global microfinance awards and is emerging as the most efficient and sustainable MFI in Africa. This paper critically assesses the specific qualities of ACSI that enabled it to ration micro-loans to about a million of People in Amhara region, one of the most inaccessible and harsh environmental zones of Ethiopia, one of the poorest country in sub-Saharan Africa. It critically examines how the involvement of state and community members influences microfinance outcomes. The paper draws on an ethnographic research undertaken on ACSI’s credit clients in rural agricultural and urban communities of Semen Showa Zone1, Amhara region, Ethiopia.
