1. 1 FAO RAF Presentation to AFRACA Microfinance Forum, Kampala, Uganda: 7th June 2005 The Computerization Experience of the PIYELI MFI in Mali Presented by: Chet Aeschliman Rural Finance & Marketing Officer FAO Regional Office for Africa, Accra

2. 2 Who is PIYELI? Originally organized in late 1995 as a Grameen Bank solidarity group lending focussed on urban women in Mali’s capital Bamako, started with USAID funding by World Education, which also initiated K-REP in Kenya. Piyeli started using the FAO MicroBanker System for DOS with integrated client ledgers, general ledger and canned management report from the first day. Because the MB system permitted effective management, the clientele expanded rapidly, as shown in the following table.

3. 3 The PIYELI Experience in Figures Indicator19961997199819992000 No. Branches11344 No. Clients1402,7254,4638,42413,313 No. Loan Officers5691517 Amt. Loans Grntd1.7203.4548.4899.4937.0 Loans Outstanding058.6227.6437.8524.4 Portfolio at Risk0% 0.43%5.13%4.75% Client Savings Dep012.6101.4192.3205.6 Total AssetsNA142.6338.0674.9771.0 Portfolio/Loan Off09.7625.2829.1930.85 Return on Operns0%18.2%66.0%86.5%70.1% (Amounts in Millions of CFA Francs)

4. 4 Some Lessons Learned from PIYELI: Computerization permitted tight control of portfolio and rapid outreach growth, and a growing variety of products which could not be effectively managed with manual records. Computerization, always up-to-date with full banking software facilitated good management and governance Computerization permitted pilot testing of new products in selected limited test markets before general roll-out. Computerization facilitated the set-up of new branches and the move to rural areas.

5. 5 End of PIYELI Presentation Any questions would be welcome.