Four new investments in Asia for the Foundation

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© Philippe Lissac

In partnership with CA CIB India, the Foundation provided a guarantee equivalent to €5 million to the Indian microfinance institution Annapurna, for a loan granted by CA CIB India in local currency. Annapurna Finance Pvt. Ltd (AFPL) was established in 2009 and is now one of the country's top ten NBFC MFIs. The institution provides financial services to low-income populations. Its main objectives are to provide financial assistance for economic empowerment and to prioritize women and directly involve them in productive activities through self-help groups and access to finance. To date, the institution serves 1.6 million active borrowers, including 991,300 women and 851,300 rural borrowers.

Similarly, in Myanmar, the Foundation granted a new loan in local currency equivalent to €2.3 million over a four-year period to VisionFund Myanmar, a microfinance institution that lends small amounts of money to individuals who lack a measurable credit history, assets to secure loans, or access to traditional sources of financing. To date, VisionFund Myanmar has more than 190,000 clients, including 86% women and 59% clients in rural areas.

Also in Myanmar, the Foundation also granted a new loan in local currency equivalent to €1.8 million over a four-year period to the microfinance institution Proximity Designs on behalf of Proximity Finance, a microfinance program whose objective is to eradicate extreme poverty by treating the poor as clients. To date, the program has 117,000 clients, including 69% women.

Finally, in Cambodia, the Foundation granted a loan equivalent to €1.6 million to Chamroeun, a long-standing partner of the Foundation since 2010. Chamroeun is a microfinance institution that provides financial services to the poorest, excluded from the services offered by more commercial microfinance institutions. The institution serves more than 30,000 clients, including 821,000 women.

More information about the Foundation's partners here.

[Interview] “Technical assistance helps structure our agricultural microcredits”

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Interview with Susan Chibanga, Managing Director, AMZ Zambia

© Didier Gentilhomme

In Zambia, the microfinance institution AMZ provides microcredit, insurance, and money transfer services to over 50,000 clients, primarily women (60%) and in rural areas (80%). Thanks to technical assistance provided under the African Facility program, AMZ was able to implement an agricultural loan assessment system for smallholder farmers, an innovation in Zambia and the wider region.

What are the activities and objectives of AMZ Zambia?

Susan Chibanga: Since the institution's creation eight years ago, we have been providing opportunities and contributing to the economic well-being of the poorest people. We provide them with access to appropriate financial services: village group loans, agricultural loans, microinsurance, and even mobile payments. Agricultural loans and rural financing are costly activities that require close monitoring.

To make them viable, we rely on the expertise of our partners such as the Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation, which is both one of our financiers and a technical assistance coordinator for several of our projects (*).

How does technical assistance improve your microloans?

AMZ has just taken a step forward in structuring its microcredit business. Thanks to technical assistance from the Foundation and other partners, we have implemented a tool to help manage our products, the Agricultural Loan Evaluation System, a true innovation in the region. This resource was initially developed by the Frankfurt School of Business. It allows us to determine credit limits by simulating repayment models based on the type of crops grown by small or medium-sized farmers. We conducted a pilot project on corn, soybeans, tomatoes, watermelon, and peanuts during one growing season. We now want to roll it out more widely.

With what priorities?

We are considering developing a mobile application for the tool. It would be useful to combine it with our customers' credit ratings and more secure authentication systems, such as pen signatures and even facial recognition. Experience shows that the tool reduces risk exposure for both our institution and our beneficiary clients. Technical assistance will help us continue to make our lending more efficient.

What are AMZ's growth prospects?

Already established in the central region of Zambia, we aim to expand our operations throughout the country. We also hope to become a deposit-taking institution within two years, in addition to our lending activities. Our positioning in the regions will remain crucial, with a long-term portfolio of 10 to 15,000 smallholders.

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(*) In order to develop rural and agricultural financing, AMZ Zambia is supported by national organizations (FSDZ, RUFEP) and international donors (Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation, Oikocredit, FMO, Triple Jump, Global Partnership Lendahand), some of which, like the GCA Foundation, are also coordinators of technical assistance missions from which it benefits.

AIDS, UNHCR and the Foundation together for the inclusion of refugees in Uganda

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© UNHCR

KAMPALA: The Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and the Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation today launched a four-year program to promote access to financial and non-financial services for refugees and host communities in Uganda.

The program is an innovative blended financial approach that combines public and private funds to facilitate financing for refugees and host communities. Access to affordable credit services is essential for refugees to start, create, and expand businesses, meet their daily needs, and be more resilient in the face of emergencies. Furthermore, access to other types of financial services, such as savings, payments, and insurance, is essential to ensure the inclusion of refugees in the formal financial sector and promote their self-reliance and resilience.

An innovative approach

This is a unique program designed to incentivize microfinance investors and financial service providers (FSPs) to expand their financial services to refugees and host populations. The project is currently being piloted in Palorinya refugee camp in northern Uganda and in Kampala, and will gradually be expanded to other targeted refugee-hosting districts.

"This is an effective way to use development aid. We leverage funds from other investors and thus ensure that scarce humanitarian funds can be released to help the most deprived refugees," says Carin Jämtin, Executive Director of SIDA.

The Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation will provide debt financing to three financial service providers with a guarantee from SIDA, which will also fund the program's technical assistance through its humanitarian allocation. The Foundation will coordinate, with UNHCR, the technical assistance component to help the three FSPs develop a range of products and services, including financial education and business development training, for both refugees and host community members.

Supporting entrepreneurship

For UNHCR, the project is in line with the Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework (CRRF) and responds to the call to work with development agencies and the private sector to find durable solutions for refugees. Many refugees are entrepreneurs, having been entrepreneurs in their countries of origin or possessing entrepreneurial skills to create or expand a business in their host country. Mahoua Parums, UNHCR Representative in Uganda, welcomed this initiative and stated that “financial inclusion is a key element in finding long-term solutions for refugees, as it helps them rebuild sustainable livelihoods. Many refugees decide to start a business once settled in the country of asylum, and microfinance can help them grow their businesses, avoid aid dependency, and make an economic and social contribution to host communities.”

Through this program, refugees will receive training in business management that will equip them with essential skills such as developing business plans, financial education (including bank relations), pricing, and marketing.

“At the Foundation, we are convinced that microfinance institutions, while adapting their products and services, have an active role to play in promoting the financial inclusion of refugees. Digital finance opportunities, in-depth knowledge of the characteristics of each group, regular monitoring, and appropriate non-financial services should stimulate such involvement,” says Eric Campos, Managing Director of the Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation.

In total, some 100,000 Ugandan refugees and hosts are expected to have access to financial services (credit and savings), including 70,000 women. The project will support the creation and development of small businesses in sectors such as agriculture, crafts, catering, and trade.

The Foundation continues its development in sub-Saharan Africa

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©Philippe Lissac

The Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation continues to invest significantly in sub-Saharan Africa, its priority area of intervention, with three new investments in South Africa, Zambia and Burkina Faso.

In South Africa, the Foundation funded SEF. Founded in 1992 in Limpopo Province, the poorest region of the country, SEF offers microfinance products to women living in poor rural communities. SEF has gained considerable international recognition thanks to its poverty targeting methodology, the Participatory Wealth Ranking, one of the first tools of its kind officially recognized and promoted by the Microcredit Summit Campaign. The institution, which has 197,359 active clients (99% women and 56% clients below the national poverty line), received its first loan equivalent to €3 million in local currency from the Foundation.

Similarly, the Foundation granted an initial loan to the microfinance institution MLF Zambia for an amount equivalent to €250,000 in local currency. MLF Zambia was established in 2008. Its activities are overseen by the Microloan Foundation, which is headquartered in the United Kingdom and regulated by the Charity Commission. MLF Zambia's main activity is to provide low-income women living in the predominantly rural areas of Zambia's Eastern, Southern, and Central provinces with short-term loans for productive purposes. The institution, which lends exclusively to women, has more than 11,000 clients. This investment is part of the African Facility mechanism developed in partnership with the AFD.

Still within the framework of the African Facility, the Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation also granted a new loan to the microfinance institution PMBF SA (formerly SOFIPE) in Burkina Faso, for an amount in local currency equivalent to €750,000 over a period of three years. PMBF-SA is a microfinance institution that provides small entrepreneurs with various financial products. To date, the institution has approximately 17,000 clients, including 67% women.

More information about the Foundation's partners here.

The Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation invests in Palestine

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© Philippe Lissac

In November, the Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation signed a new partnership in Palestine with the microfinance institution FATEN, for a loan equivalent to one million euros in local currency. The Foundation now has two partners in Palestine, where it has been present since 2012.

FATEN, an NGO that provides financial products and services to the country's small entrepreneurs, as well as farmers who own isolated land near Israel's separation wall. Its product offerings include group loans, individual loans, Islamic loans, and housing and startup loans.

FATEN is the largest microfinance institution in the region and operates in remote areas. The current stability has allowed the institution to expand while continuing to serve a majority of women, with a strong presence in rural areas and refugee camps.

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Created in 2008, under the joint leadership of Crédit Agricole SA's management and Professor Yunus, 2006 Nobel Peace Prize winner and founder of Grameen Bank, the Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation is a multi-sector operator that contributes to the fight against poverty through financial inclusion and social impact entrepreneurship. As an investor, lender, technical assistance coordinator, and fund advisor, the Foundation supports microfinance institutions and social enterprises in nearly 40 countries.

More information about the Foundation's partners here.

The White Paper on Agricultural Insurance

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© Didier Gentilhomme

The White Paper published by the International Confederation of Agricultural Credit (CICA) in November is intended to contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals for more resilient agriculture that is better protected against climate hazards.

Since its creation in 1950, the International Confederation of Agricultural Credit (CICA) has held an annual Congress, now known as the Meetings. This provides an opportunity for the leaders of the Confederation's member banking and financial institutions to present research and discuss topics of common interest.

These meetings take place on all continents in order to offer members an opening to other countries and agricultural, banking and cultural realities.

On the occasion of the 6th World Congress on Agricultural and Rural Finance, held on November 12 and 13 in New Delhi, CICA published The Agricultural Insurance White Paper, the result of 23 contributions that shed light on the challenges of agricultural insurance. Through the testimonies of various stakeholders in all regions of the world, the White Paper aims to contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals, for a more resilient and better protected agriculture against climate hazards. FARM of Crédit Agricole collaborated closely on the publication, which highlights how risk management is a key condition for improving the economic, social, and environmental performance of agriculture, in the North and the South.

Discover the White Paper here.

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The Foundation continues its investments in Europe and Central Asia

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In recent months, the Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation has continued to expand its portfolio with new investments in Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

It has thus granted a new loan to the microfinance institution Monte Credit in Montenegro, for an amount of 1 million euros over a period of 3 years. Monte Credit offers its clients mainly agricultural loans and loans for commercial activities, using the individual lending methodology. To date, the institution, which manages a portfolio of 7.4 million euros, has 4,600 clients, including 55% women. 56% of its clients are located in rural areas.

The Foundation also granted two new loans totaling €2.5 million to the Georgian microfinance institution Lazika, whose mission is to facilitate access to financial services tailored to entrepreneurs. With a portfolio of €14 million, the institution now has approximately 11,000 clients, including 471,000 women and 751,000 clients in rural areas.

Finally, the Foundation granted a new three-year loan to OXUS Tajikistan for €1.2 million. OXUS Tajikistan is a microfinance institution focused on operations in rural areas, where more than 80,000 of its clients live and work. To date, the institution has 14,000 clients, including 39,000 women, and manages a portfolio worth €11.3 million.

With these new investments, the Foundation now has 16 partners spread across 7 countries in the region, representing a portfolio of outstanding loans of 16.6 million euros, or 19.81% of the total amount of outstanding loans managed by the Foundation at the end of October.

More information about the Foundation's partners...

The Foundation makes a new investment in SFA

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© Philippe Lissac

The Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation has signed a new financing agreement with Sénégalaise des Filières Alimentaires (SFA), a partner of the Foundation since 2013, in the form of an equity investment. With this new equity investment of €137,000, the Foundation is strengthening its support for SFA, a social enterprise developing an inclusive value chain based on the production and marketing of rice.

The SFA encourages the production of quality rice by smallholder farmers in the Senegal River Valley through a long-term partnership. It provides them with access to financing and technical support. The paddy is processed into white rice and sold on the Senegalese market under the Terral brand. The SFA thus contributes to Senegal's goal of self-sufficiency, which still imports 751,000 tons of the rice it consumes.

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Created in 2008, under the joint leadership of Crédit Agricole SA's management and Professor Yunus, 2006 Nobel Peace Prize winner and founder of Grameen Bank, the Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation is a multi-sector operator that contributes to the fight against poverty through financial inclusion and social impact entrepreneurship. As an investor, lender, technical assistance coordinator, and fund advisor, the Foundation supports microfinance institutions and social enterprises in nearly 40 countries.

The Foundation funds a new partner in Bosnia and Herzegovina

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©Philippe Lissac/GODONG

The Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation continues to expand its activities in Bosnia and Herzegovina with the signing of a new partnership with the microfinance institution Partner Microcredit Organization (Partner), to which it has granted an initial loan of €2 million over a period of three years.

Partner is a multi-ethnic organization founded by Mercy Corps in 2000. It was the first microfinance institution to operate in post-war Bosnia and Herzegovina. Partner, one of the country's leading microfinance institutions, provides a range of business, agricultural, and housing loans through a network of approximately 30 branches. To date, the institution has over 40,000 clients, including 42% women and 87% rural clients, and manages a portfolio of nearly €70 million.

With this new partnership, the Foundation has three partners in Bosnia and Herzegovina and 16 partners in the Eastern Europe / Central Asia region, representing nearly 20% of partners and 26% of outstanding loans monitored by the Foundation at the end of October 2019.

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Created in 2008, under the joint leadership of Crédit Agricole SA's management and Professor Yunus, 2006 Nobel Peace Prize winner and founder of Grameen Bank, the Grameen Crédit Agricole SA Foundation is a multi-sector operator that contributes to the fight against poverty through financial inclusion and social impact entrepreneurship. As an investor, lender, technical assistance coordinator, and fund advisor, the Foundation supports microfinance institutions and social enterprises in nearly 40 countries.

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