Institution Name:
Action pour la coopération avec la microfinance
Area of Activity are:
Microfinance
Website:
www.acmehaiti.org
Main Contact Information:
Sinior Raymond
Executive Director
sraymond@acmehaiti.org
(509)3713-9545
HESAR Support Received from FOMIN:
US$135,000
Total Support this institution still needs to raise from other donors:
US$320,435

Objective

FOMIN has carried out two projects with ACME. For the first one, the objective was to strengthen ACME in its efforts to expand and improve the quality of its micro credit services to underserved clients.  The project allowed ACME to Improve its credit methodology and develop of new micro finance products better tailored to micro entrepreneurs and grow while maintaining a reasonable rate of default, strengthen its management and operational capacities, improve in communication and information systems, and study options to transform its operation from an NGO to a corporation, in order to strengthen its governance.   The second project’s general objective is to contribute to improved living conditions for low-income microentrepreneurs and small-scale producers in Haiti. Its goal is to expand and facilitate access to credit services for microentrepreneurs and small business people in secondary cities and their neighboring areas of influence for business and production- and service-related activities.

Partners

ACME

Funding

$175,000 FOMIN and $75,000 counterpart financing

Beneficiaries

As of December 2009, ACME was servicing about 23.500 active clients.  These are low-income microentrepreneurs, mostly women, a large part of who live in the metropolitan area of Port au Prince.   When ACME started the FOMIN project in 2004 it had 4.500 active clients and total assets of US$1, 7 MM (Assets in 2009 had grown to $14.5MM).  ACME’s average loan size is U$436, which is below the country’s GDP, indicating that it is reaching the country’s poor.

Objective:

The HESAR for ACME should enable the microfinance institution reestablish the scale of its operations and guarantee the financial services to its clients. 

FOMIN funding committed:

US$135,000

Why is FOMIN supporting ACME:

As one of the leading microfinance institutions in Haiti and especially in the regions hardest hit by the earthquake, ACME has a particular challenge to reestablish the scale of its operations as fast and smoothly as possible, in order to continue providing much needed credit services to its microentrepreneur clients.  ACME has lost office infrastructure, information and communications equipment needed for the agile provision of these services.  It needs to quickly reopen its headquarters and key branches, in order to gradually restore full services, as well as to keep its existing clients engaged in order to maintain control of its loan portfolio.  It needs to do so in a safe working environment for its employees, who are key to meeting the needs of its clients.   The expenditures supported with the Emergency Allocation Support will enable ACME to rent office space and equip it with basic electricity generation, communications and information technology so as to put its headquarters and two key branches in heavily populated areas back in operations.  The requested amount covers only part of the overall post-earthquake needs of ACME, but may have a big impact in getting the operations back to the minimum needed to meet the needs of its clients.

What is being funded?

Services
Communications systems/internet
US$3,000
Total
US$3,000
Real Estate
Rent temporary space for HQ office
US$48,000
Rent temporary space for branch offices in Shada
US$12,000
Rent temporary space for branch offices in La Ville
US$12,000
Total
US$72,000
Office Infrastructure
Electric generator 50Kw
US$24,000
Electric generator 12Kw
US$10,000
Electric inverter
US$6,000
Laptops and desktops
US$20,000
Total
US$60,000