A Review of Ethiopian Micro Finance Institutions and Their Role in Poverty Reduction: A Case Study on Amhara Credit and Saving Institution (ACSI)

Abstract

In recent times the term 'Microfinance' (MF) became a buzz word in the every corner of the world as well as in the formulation of welfare programs by government. After hearing success stories in microfinance across the developing countries, particularly Bangladesh, third world nations started to give more importance to MFs. Since, banks have failed to reach the poorest of the poor of the countries population; microfinance emerged as a potential tool to fill the gap between financial institutions and needy people. Ethiopia, as a least developed country (LDC), needs huge financial recourses for rapid and sustainable development and reduce gap between haves and have-nots. Though we are in 21st century where science and technology plays a vital role in the pace of development, many countries across the Africa suffered from hunger, ill health, mass poverty and illiteracy. To curb all these awful conditions, there is a need of massive financial recourses. Private Banks and Government sector banks have many limitations in this concern. Mainly, these banks have high profit motives and they used to put many restrictions to sanctions loans to the poor. In this juncture, Microfinance is said to be an effective instrument discovered in 21st century to mitigate rural poverty in the world. Microfinance helps the poor to come out from many wicked problems. The beauty of the MF is in safeguarding a variety of interests of its members. In this paper an earnest attempt is made to review of the need of Micro Financial Institutions (MFIs), the role of MFIs in alleviation of poverty in the country and how woman can get assistance from these institutions with a special reference to ACSI.

Keywords: Mirco Finance, Poverty reduction, ACSI

JEL Classification: P34, P31