Association of Progressive Entrepreneurs in Development

Mission:

The Association of Progressive Entrepreneurs in Development (APED) is a World Vision’s NGO, created in 2001 to fight poverty through the development of sustainable micro enterprises owned primarily by women.

Address:

PMB CT 78, Cantonments

Accra

Ghana

Phone:

+233 021 502 064

Email:

aped [at] wvi [dot] org

Main Funding Sources:

Grants

Products and Services:

Loans

Training and Consulting

Products:

- working capital loans
- agricultural loans
- non-financial services: business management training package

Services Provided:

Business Development Services

Looking for (Investment Types):

Loans in Local Currency

Loans in US$

% Operations Comprised by MF:

91 - 100

Date established:

Dec 14 2000

FYE:

30-Sep

Current Legal Status:

NGO

Regulated:

Social Performance Profile


+ Mission specifics
+ Target markets (ranked by importance)
Clients living in rural areas	1
Women	2
+ Development goals (ranked by importance)
Poverty reduction	1
Increased access to financial services	2
Employment generation	3
Growth of existing businesses	4
Children's schooling	5
Gender equality and women's empowerment	6
Health improvement	7
Improvement of adult education	8
Housing	9
+ Poverty targets
Poor clients
Low income clients
+ Governance
Has trained members of its board on social performance management
+ Range of products and services
+ Financial products and services offered
+ Credit products offered
Microcredit loans for microenterprises
Loans for agriculture
+ Savings products offered
+ Compulsory insurance products required
Compulsory credit life insurance
+ Voluntary insurance products offered
Voluntary credit life insurance
Voluntary life insurance
+ Other financial products and services offered
Savings facilitation services
+ Non-financial services offered
+ Enterprise services offered
Enterprise skills development
Business development services
+ Education services offered
Financial literacy education
Basic health/nutrition education
Occupational safety and health in the workplace education
+ Health services offered
+ Women's empowerment services offered
Leadership training for women
+ Products and services targeting the poor
Products and services specifically designed to target the poor:	Micro credit to economically active poor population, savings facilitation, business training and microinsurance.
+ Social responsibility to clients
+ Client protection principles in use
The loan approval process requires evaluation of borrower repayment capacity and loan affordability. Loan approval does not rely solely on guarantees (whether peer guarantees, co-signers or collateral) as a substitute for good capacity analysis.
Internal audits check household debt exposure, lending practices that violate procedures including unauthorized re-financing, multiple borrowers or co-signers per household, and other practices that could increase indebtedness.
Productivity targets and incentive systems value portfolio quality at least as highly as other factors, such as disbursement or customer growth. Growth is rewarded only if portfolio quality is high.
Prices, terms and conditions of all financial products are fully disclosed to the customer prior to sale, including interest charges, insurance premiums, minimum balances, all fees, penalties, linked products, third party fees, and whether these can change over time.
Staff is trained to communicate effectively with all customers, ensuring that they understand the product, the terms of the contract, their rights and obligations. Communications techniques address literacy limitations (e.g. reading contracts out loud, materials in local languages).
The organization's corporate culture values and rewards high standards of ethical behavior and customer service.
A mechanism to handle customer complaints is in place, has dedicated staff resources, and is actively used. (Suggestion boxes alone are generally not considered adequate.)
Customers know how their information will be used. Staff explains how data will be used and seeks permission for use.
+ Cost of services to clients
Flat interest method
+ Social responsibility to staff
+ Human resources
Benefits (medical insurance, pension contribution)
Protection at work (safety, anti-harassment)
Equality (anti-discrimination, equal pay for men and women with equivalent skill levels)
+ Basis of staff incentives related to social performance
Ability to attract new clients from target market
Portfolio quality
+ Social responsibility to the environment
This institution identifies enterprises with environmental risk
+ Poverty measurement tools in use
Grameen Progress out of Poverty Index (PPI)

Partnerships

Current
Name	Relationship
GHAMFIN	Network Affiliation
Planet Rating	Rating
Vision Fund	Network Affiliation
World Vision	Network Affiliation

MFI Report