African Facility II: the Foundation and AFD together for microfinance in Africa

© Philippe Lissac

Launched in 2013 by the Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation and the French Development Agency (AFD), the Take-Off Facility for Agricultural and Rural Microfinance in Africa (African Facility) aims to support microfinance institutions in sub-Saharan Africa. Following a successful first phase (2013-2016), with 16 partners funded and €6 million in loans disbursed, the second phase of the program will support 25 rural microfinance institutions.

With the Foundation's coordination, AFD's financing for Phase II is structured around three components: a €6 million loan for credit activity; a €2.2 million grant for technical assistance; and an ARIZ portfolio guarantee to cover 50,000,000 of the credits granted.

Phase II results

Phase II of the program already has 22 supported microfinance institutions (including 10 new ones), which at the end of June 2019 represent more than 400,000 active borrowers, including 70% women and 66% living in rural areas.

In terms of technical assistance, beyond missions related to strengthening financial and risk management, new themes have been integrated into the program, such as social performance management, microinsurance, digitalization, and green microfinance. In addition, 79 technical assistance missions have been launched. Furthermore, 29 microfinance institution managers received scholarships to participate in the Boulder training in Turin in 2017 and 2019.

Finally, all institutions have confirmed their participation in the Facility's Partners Forum, which will be held in October 2019 alongside African Microfinance Week in Ouagadougou. This will be an opportunity to take stock of the program's impact and strengthen ties between the supported partners.