The following is Micro- finance Excellenece Award news Grameen Foundation dispatched through its website - December 2007 eNewsletter

Grameen Foundation Celebrates Innovation in Combating Poverty

Ato Mekonnen holding the award

Grameen Foundation celebrated two organizations and an individual for empowering people to lift themselves out of poverty through microfinance at its 2007 Microfinance Awards and 10th Anniversary Celebration; "Changing the Future with Strategic Innovation." The event was sponsored by Best Buy, Deutsche Bank, and WLNY-TV.

Grameen Bank founder and 2006 Nobel Peace winner Muhammad Yunus delivered remarks commending the awardees for their dedication to eradicating poverty. "I don't think poverty has any place to hide any more,"Yunus remarked. All three awardees, he said, were being recognized for their innovative ideas to advance "the business to do good without expecting anything out of it."

The Excellence Award Honoree, Amhara Credit and Savings Institution (ACSI), is one of the largest microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Ethiopia , where an estimated six million people live in poverty. In 12 years, ACSI has grown to 185 sub-branches and expects to serve nearly one million clients by the end of 2007. In his remarks, Mekonnen Yelewumwosen, the CEO of ACSI, expressed the importance of receiving the award. "It will mean a lot to our organization in Ethiopia . It will help make people pay attention to microfinance and its ability to bring people out of poverty."
The Pioneer Award honoree, Grameen Koota of India , works in a region where just under 40 percent of the population lives below the poverty line. It has grown tremendously since opening in 2001, and is the first adopter of Mifos, an innovative, open source technology platform developed by Grameen Foundation's Technology Center .

The winner of the Susan M. Davis Lifetime Achievement Award, Sam Daley-Harris is founder of RESULTS, a preeminent grassroots lobbying organization working to create the political will to end world hunger. In 1997, the RESULTS Educational Fund convened the first ever Microcredit Summit, launching a nine year campaign to reach 100 million of the world's poorest families with credit for self-employment and other financial and business services. That goal was reached at the end of 2006, just one year behind schedule. A second goal was launched during the 2006 Global Microcredit Summit that, once achieved, will lift half a billion people out of extreme poverty. Prior to the awards ceremony, GF hosted a Knowledge Sharing Roundtable where the practitioner honorees shared their experiences, best practices and innovations. More than 50 microfinance practitioners attended the roundtable and exchanged ideas with other professionals, students and media. The roundtable was hosted by Grameen Foundation Board Chair Paul Maritz .

The speech the Managing Director of ACSI made at the Handing over Ceremony of the Micro-finance Excellence Award in New York is the following ”

Dear president, Alex Counts,

Dear respected participants of the award ceremony.

I am very glad to appear here at this global micro finance stage representing Amhara Credit and Savings Institution /ACSI/ to receive the 2007 Grameen Foundation Excellence Award in Micro finance. I would like to forward my gratitude to Grameen Foundation on behalf of Amhara Credit and Savings Institution for giving the Award.

And would also like to express the happiness of both the employees of the institution and the people of Amhara National Regional state and convey the warmest gratitude they have to you.

As is indicated in the invitation letter the Foundation sent to me, the Award helps the critical role of ACSI in reducing poverty exerted upon the people of the Amhara region. It also increases its visibility in the market-that is to say it helps to make people aware of its products and services.

Dear participant

It has been 12 years since ACSI is established as a replica of Grameen Bank of Bangladesh . ACSI has been giving service in all of the 140 districts of the region by having opened 185 sub-branches under 10 Zonal offices. So far ACSI has managed a total active clients of 838,436 ( of loan and saving ) with total amount of outstanding loan of

Ethiopian Birr 920 million (102 million US dollar). It has also mobilized 481.2 million birr (53 million US dollar) as a total amount of net saving

Successive impact assessment surveys were conducted to know whether the services ACSI renders have brought changes about the lives of the productive poor or not. All of the surveys asserted that the economic and social lives of the majority of its clients have been changed.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Though the services of the Institution have brought some what persuasive results, ACSI doesn't want to boast as though it has done all of its assignments in the campaign launched against poverty. Quite a lot of productive poor are still eagerly waiting for the service it gives and has persistently been struggling to address their demand.

Dear participants

There is no secret behind the success of Amhara Credit and Saving Institution other than effort. Effort so as to have shared vision, to attain financial self-sufficiency and to have effective organizational system.

Setting the vision statement alone will not contribute to organizational transformation. Any organization has to have shared vision at least among its workers if it has to under go change.

Having taken this seriously into account, ACSI tried to communicate its vision to the extent of becoming shared among its workers, managing bodies, clients, stakeholders, local government and the people of the region at large that made them contribute their part so as to attain its vision. This shared vision also enabled especially workers to become committed, efficient and to work with a sense of ownership.

ACSI has positioned itself and aligned its mandate to feed into the government policy. By virtue of the fact that it addresses the plight of the rural poor with dedication and commitment, targeting the most disadvantaged, ACSI has become a strategic vehicle for government policies and to some extent this ensures that they receive the required government support, irrespective of the political inclinations of the government of the day. It has made itself into a relevant and much needed instrument that contributes significantly to the Amhara state Government's drive to reduce levels of poverty and grow the economy.

ACSI entered into the industry with the aim to give financial intermediation for the asset- less poor of the region. Hence, it began its operation by mobilizing savings. It showed great effort so as to build capacity to access finance/loanable fund/ which enabled it to become financial self- sufficient.

The Institution follows decentralized accounting system in all of its organizational layers that stretches down to the grass root level. Each branch performs its duties on its own accord-that is to say it sets its annual plan, it implements its activities as per its plan, evaluates its accomplishments and makes itself ready for the supervision to be conducted every quarter of a year. This system enabled workers to enhance efficiency by decreasing the long process in time.

The management of wide spread activities by ACSI across the state is achieved through decentralization of activities and operations to sub-branch level, giving the sub-branches the autonomy to operate and conduct business with little involvement of the central office. The flip side to this is that most sub-branch activities are pre-determined & desinged at centeral office . This enables the sub-branches to undertake and manage these fairly standardized operations with central office controlling the overall design of these activities and operations. ACSI has simplified and standardized its processes in such a way that they can be implemented uniformly across sub-branches, and the central office, through the branch offices, can supervise activities and ensures that the operations are being undertaken as planned and stipulated.

ACSI has been able to maintain a stable and productive workforce. The staff costs are incredibly low (3 percent of the average outstanding gross loan portfolio in 2006). Staff commitment is high and long-term service is recognized and rewarded through long-term study and training opportunities that benefit individual staff members in their own career development as much as in their increased value and contribution to the organization.

ACSI has managed to replicate successful models by adapting them to suit and fit into the local context. ACSI's success can be attributed to an intimate knowledge and appreciation of what exists within its environment, and being able to adapt the model to work within that environment. The operating models of ACSI make use of the existing structures in the most unconventional ways. Working with what exists in new ways, as opposed to imposing new things into the existing environment, appears to be a critical success factor.

A few examples include the use of districts arrangement (use of the existing government structure) to target and identify priority areas and the use of local committees, on a voluntary basis, to screen potential borrowers. Lastly, the proposed way in which theyintend using cooperatives in the area, not initially as an intermediary that can provide access to finance for members, but by using the production that members own as part of the cooperative as potential security for individual loans they intend getting from ACSI shows innovative thinking.

ACSI has been very innovative in the way it has used, adapted and replicated credit models, always ensuring that what is functional and effective in the local context is used and incorporated in the design of products and processes. This is a combination of home grown solutions, an intimate understanding of the context, and maximizing the learning and experiences from other countries. ACSI's client focus has enabled it to develop a range of diversified product ranges that target different economic activities and cycles as well as financial needs of the rural poor.

Dear audience!

It is the aggregate effort of what I tried to mention above brought the exponential growth of ACSI which helped it succeed in winning the 2007 Grameen Foundation Excellence in Micro finance Award.

ACSI perceives this award as a sign of recognition by the world wide known organizations as that of Grameen Foundation which motivates it to strengthen its effort for further achievements towards the attainment of its vision which in turn is, of course, a contribution to achieve the Millennium Development Goals.

Ladies and Gentlemen!

We are in the east, you are in the west, some are in the north while others are in the south. let's wipe out poverty from our home in all directions until we raise hand together in triumph.

Finally, I would like to say thank you once more for the award you gave us. I don't have words that can convey how delighted I am and the community of ACSI is.