Agricultural Credit Programme (ACP) in Ghana
IESC manages the $6.45 million Agricultural Credit Programme (ACP) in Ghana, funded by the Millennium Development Authority Ghana (MiDA), the Ghanaian governmental entity overseeing the implementation of Ghana's Millennium Challenge Corporation compact. Prime implementer IESC and its local partner, Jecty and Company Limited (JCL), are tasked with developing the capacity of Participating Financial Institutions (PFIs) to deliver credit to the agricultural sector. In addition, IESC provides advisory services for a $26 million dollar revolving fund targeted at three Ghanaian intervention zones: the Northern Region, the Afram Basin, and the Southern Horticulture Belt. The ACP program recently received an extension and additional funding to continue activities through all of 2011. Accredited PFIs- including rural banks and Financial NGOs (FNGOs)- that met various criteria related to financial soundness and a demonstrated ability and desire to lend to the agricultural sector, can apply to receive the loans for on-credit to local Farmer Based Organizations (FBOs). IESC has developed a monitoring and evaluation system to track the fund’s performance. IESC also provides capacity building measures to participating financial institutions to improve their ability to provide loans to Ghana’s agricultural sector.
Lebanon Investment in Microfinance (LIM) Project
IESC was awarded the Lebanon Investment in Microfinance (LIM) Program in May 2009 through the Volunteers for Economic Growth Alliance (VEGA) Leader with Associate mechanism. In September 2010, the program was awarded a four-year extension for expanded activities through April 2015 and a total program value of $12.2 million. IESC is helping to build the capacity of microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Lebanon and providing capital through grants to competitively selected MFIs. The MFIs are using the grant funding to “on-lend” to microenterprises from the tourism, information communication technology (ICT) and agribusiness sectors, primarily in rural and peri-urban areas. In addition, IESC is providing value-added technical assistance to the microfinance institution sub grantees via its long-term staff and short-term experts. The expert advisers are providing training and mentoring to borrowers working in the agribusiness, ICT and tourism value chains. Key topics that are being covered include microfinance industry best practices, training of MFI loan officers, and the improvement and development of ICT, tourism and agribusiness business development services for their borrowers and potential borrowers.