Our Profile
In 2006, ACCION International and ECOBANK Group (ETI) entered into an agreement
to create microfinance institutions and offer financial services to low income target
group in West and Central Africa.
As part of this agreement, ACCION brings its technical
expertise and leadership in the microfinance sector while ECOBANK offers the opportunity
to leverage its banking infrastructure.
In pursuance of the above, ECOBANK and ACCION launched EB-ACCION Savings and Loans
Company in Ghana in 2006. EB-ACCION is jointly owned by ECOBANK Ghana (70% shares)
and ACCION (30% shares) through its investment subsidiary, ACCION Investments.
The
new entity was formed at the end of 2006 and got its license from Bank of Ghana
in March 2008. Lending commenced on 26th March 2008 at both branches (Tudu & Abeka
Lapaz). EB-ACCION Savings and Loans is meant to provide the template for most of
the ECOBANK and ACCION Africa expansion.
ACCION has, over the past one year of the
pre-implementation phase, provided extensive support in the preparation for the
launch of EB-ACCION.
The objective of this project is to build a large scale banking platform offering
tailored financial services to micro and small businesses.
The strategy is based
on two key elements:
- Introduction of cash-flow credit assessment instead of the
traditional collateral-based assessment, and
- Training a cadre of dedicated loan
officers offering banking services through an intensive personal relationship with
clients.