The Foundation makes five investments in Africa

© Didier Gentilhomme

During the first quarter of 2019, the Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation intensified its presence with its African partners by granting five new financings, notably in the form of senior loans. As of the end of March 2019, it had 40 partners in Sub-Saharan Africa, representing 42% of the total outstanding amount.

The Foundation thus granted, as part of the African Facility program, a local currency loan equivalent to €800,000 to the microfinance institution Eclof Kenya, which offers financial and non-financial services to micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises in the country, while actively promoting savings. To date, the institution, which finances 58% of women, has more than 30,000 clients, 60% in rural areas.

Also in East Africa, the Foundation also granted a new loan in local currency equivalent to €1 million to UGAFODE, a Ugandan microfinance institution whose primary mission is to provide its clients with affordable primary financial services. The institution currently has 17,300 clients, including nearly 201,000 women and approximately 801,000 rural clients.

In West Africa, the Foundation granted a new loan to the Togolese microfinance institution Coopec Sifa for €305,000 in local currency. Coopec Sifa, which is financed under the African Facility, is a microfinance institution that offers small loans to its nearly 38,000 clients, primarily women (86%) in the north of the country.

In addition, ACEP Burkina was also granted a new loan of €2.3 million in CFA francs. This microfinance institution, a partner of the Foundation since 2016, specializes in financing microenterprises and very small businesses in urban centers and inner suburbs. It currently has 12,300 clients, including 20% women.

Finally, in Senegal, the Foundation strengthened its partnership with Laiterie du Berger, in which it has been a shareholder since 2010, by granting a loan in the form of a shareholder current account, for an amount in CFA francs equivalent to 229,000 euros. Laiterie du Berger is a social enterprise that recycles milk collected from Fulani herders in the north of the country, transforming it into yogurts and other dairy products sold under the Dolima brand.

To learn more about the Foundation's partners, click here.