MICROCAPITAL STORY: Non-Profit ACCION International and Africa’s Ecobank Group Launch Microfinance Institution (MFI) in Ghana

ACCION International, a microfinance-oriented non-profit, and Ecobank, a banking group with operations throughout Africa, have partnered to launch microfinance bank EB-ACCION Savings & Loan in Ghana.

The bank will begin with 43 staff members and two branches in Accra, and there are plans to open two more by the end of this year. Its goal is to become Ghana’s leading microfinance institution (MFI) by 2010.

ACCION collaborated with Ecobank and other parties last year in launching ACCION Microfinance Bank in nearby Nigeria. The opening of EB-ACCION is considered a first step in what is anticipated to be a regional West African microfinance initiative.

MicroCapital previously reported on ACCION and Ecobank’s collaborations in Africa in January and July 2007.

ACCION International is a non-profit based in Boston, originally founded in 1961 to address poverty in Latin American cities. It entered the field of micro-lending in 1973. As of year-end 2006 (Annual Report), it had total assets of USD 51.1 million.

Ecobank operates in 22 countries throughout West and Central Africa, with a network of 450 branches. Established in 1985, Ecobank had USD 3.5 billion in assets as of year-end 2006 (Annual Report).

By Stephen Son

Additional Resources:

Insurance News Net: “ECOBANK and ACCION Launch Microfinance Operations in Ghana” (Press Release)

ACCION International: EB-ACCION Savings & Loan; Annual Report 2006

MicroCapital.org article, January 18, 2007: “Boston-Based ACCION International Partners with Togo-Based Ecobank Transnational Incorporated to Expand into Western Africa”

MicroCapital.org article, July 10 , 2007: “Ecobank and ACCION International to Launch New Microfinance Banks in 20 African Countries”

Ecobank: Annual Report 2006