← Erudite Africa Center of ExcellenceBank and MFICredit Analysis ProgramLevel 1 · Foundation
Level 1: Credit Foundations
From first enquiry to a correctly documented disbursement
A practical first course for new credit officers in Ethiopian banks and MFIs: the rules and limits, the loan products, the intake interview, basic ratios and collateral, and the loan file from approval to disbursement.
Start the course
0 of 5 modules completed
What you will be able to do
- Explain why credit policy and procedure exist and who holds which approval authority
- Match a customer need to the right credit product and its main terms
- Run an intake interview, collect the right documents and order a credit report
- Compute five basic ratios and collateral coverage for a small borrower
- Prepare the loan approval form, contracts, registration, insurance and file correctly
- For
- New and junior credit officers, relationship officers and branch staff in Ethiopian commercial banks and microfinance institutions who handle overdraft and term loan requests.
- Study time
- About 5 hours online, in 5 modules (10 hours in the classroom version)
- Each module
- Short lessons, animated visuals, Ethiopian examples, decisions to make, NBE rules and worked calculations, then a quiz
- Assessment
- A 20-question final exam; pass mark 70%
- Certificate
- Erudite Africa Center of Excellence certificate of completion
- Access
- Module 1 free for registered users; the full course, exam and certificate for subscribers
The 5 modules
- Module 01Free previewLending in a bank: governance and limitsWhy loans are a bank's largest risk, who may approve what, and which regulatory limits no officer can override.7 lessons · 60 min · quiz
- Module 02Credit productsMatch the purpose and cash cycle of a need to the product built for it, because a wrong product is the first step toward a problem loan.6 lessons · 60 min · quiz
- Module 03Credit originationMost bad loans are visible at the front door: practise the eligibility check, interview, documents, credit report and business visit that catch them.6 lessons · 60 min · quiz
- Module 04Fundamentals of analysis and collateralThe order of judgment: first can and will the borrower repay from the business, and only then how well collateral protects the bank if it does not.6 lessons · 65 min · quiz
- Module 05Credit administration and capstoneAn approved loan is still unprotected until contracts are signed correctly, collateral is registered and insured, and the file is complete.7 lessons · 65 min · quiz
- Officer simulationA week as credit officer at Bank A, Hawassa branchWork as credit officer: 11 real-life items, decisions with consequences and a hand-over note. Pass with 70% to qualify for the certificate.
- Final examFinal exam and certificate20 applied questions across all 5 modules. Pass with 70% to download your certificate.
Built on
- Erudite Africa training module: Level 1: Credit Foundations (October 2026)
- Erudite Africa credit training program overview and Ethiopian context module (October 2026)
- A commercial bank's Revised Credit Procedure Manual (August 2025), unnamed
- NBE directives as listed in the lessons, including SBB/87/2024, SBB/88/2024, SBB/90/2024, SBB/91/2024 and CRB/02/2019
- Ethiopian laws as cited: Banking Business Proclamation No. 1360/2025, Movable Property Security Right Proclamation No. 1147/2019, Proclamation No. 97/1998
Examples and companies are fictional. Bank practices are shown as typical Ethiopian practice, not as any one bank's policy. Always apply your own institution's approved policy and the current NBE directives.