← Erudite Africa Center of ExcellenceBank and MFIProject Finance ProgramLevel 1 · Foundation
Project Appraisal Level 1: Project Finance Foundations
How a project loan differs, how to read a feasibility study, and how cost, financing, documents and disbursement fit together
A practical introduction to project lending for Ethiopian credit officers. Follow Sebeta Pasta and Flour PLC from a loan request to a staged disbursement plan, and learn to screen studies, rebuild project cost, test equity and value cash flows.
Start the course
0 of 5 modules completed
What you will be able to do
- Explain how project lending differs from working capital lending and describe the seven stages of the project cycle
- Read a feasibility study and flag weak or missing analysis, asking for independent evidence
- Build a project cost table, including contingency, interest during construction and initial working capital, and a financing plan that meets the 30% equity rule
- Use present value, annuity installments, payback and simple NPV to compare projects and shape a loan
- Prepare the document, security, insurance and staged disbursement checklist for a project loan
- For
- Credit officers, relationship managers and branch loan staff in Ethiopian banks and microfinance institutions who are new to project and long-term lending.
- 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 previewWhat Project Lending Is and the Project CycleA project loan is repaid by a business that does not exist yet, so the bank judges the plan, the people and the structure instead of a track record.6 lessons · 50 min · quiz
- Module 02Reading a Feasibility StudyA feasibility study is the sponsor's sales document, so the officer tests every important assumption against independent evidence.6 lessons · 55 min · quiz
- Module 03Project Cost and the Financing PlanRebuild a project's cost from its parts so nothing is missing and nothing is inflated, and check that the owners really carry at least 30% of it.6 lessons · 60 min · quiz
- Module 04Time Value of Money for Project DecisionsA Birr received in year 8 is worth much less than a Birr today, and that one idea drives loan installments, payback and NPV.5 lessons · 60 min · quiz
- Module 05Project Documents, Security and Staged DisbursementProtect the bank while a project is still a construction site: the right documents, a security package that grows with the project, and money released only against progress.6 lessons · 65 min · quiz
- Officer simulationA month as project loan officer at Bank A, Dukem branchWork as project loan officer: 10 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: Project Appraisal Level 1: Project Finance Foundations (October 2026)
- A commercial bank's Revised Credit Procedure Manual (August 2025), unnamed
- NBE directives as listed in the lessons: FXD/01/2024 and NBE/INT/13/2026
- Ethiopian laws as cited: Environmental Impact Assessment Proclamation No. 299/2002, Movable Property Security Right Proclamation No. 1147/2019, Insurance Business Proclamation No. 746/2012
- Erudite Africa: Ethiopian context for banking training (39 topics, October 2026)
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.