Bolivia -- capital resources component of CORDEP, cooperative agreement number 511-0617-A-00-1411 : midterm evaluation

The component has been implemented by Agricultural Cooperative Development International (ACDI). Mid-term evaluation covers the period 8/91-2/94. The project has established Agrocapital, a well-designed, private foundation that provides loans to producers, agribusinesses, and agroindustry. With its well-trained staff of 27, Agrocapital has made significant efforts in a difficult political environment to collect and restructure the P.L. 480 credit portfolio, which was donated to Agrocapital to provide the foundation with a start-up base of capital resources. Agrocapital staff have successfully kept pace with client needs as they evolve, and exhibited good credit-granting techniques. However, there are not sufficient internally generated funds available for lending in 1994. To become a regional financial intermediary, a necessary stepping stone to the domestic savings market and self-sufficiency, the foundation will have to improve its compliance with Bolivian Banking Law and international lending norms. Agrocapital also needs to develop a strategic planning which will help it choose from the many opportunities available at the current time -- the market demand for Agrocapital services has been well beyond that envisioned in the project design.