The Foundation celebrates its 10th anniversary

© Philippe Lissac

On November 20, Crédit Agricole SA and the Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation hosted an evening to mark the Foundation's tenth anniversary. The event took place at the Salle Wagram in Paris and brought together nearly 200 guests. After 10 years of work, the Foundation and its partners reaffirm their commitment to inclusive and sustainable finance.

An evening to mark the Foundation's 10th anniversary

The event, organized to mark the Foundation's tenth anniversary, brought together nearly 200 people at the Salle Wagram in Paris and provided an opportunity to celebrate the Foundation's 10th anniversary alongside its founders, directors, and partners. Foundation President Jean-Marie Sander opened the evening by recalling the Foundation's origins and how, 10 years later, with over €200 million in funding granted and 100 partners supported, the Foundation and its founders, Crédit Agricole and the Grameen Trust, continue to work together for socially responsible finance.

Eric Campos, General Delegate of the Foundation and CSR Director of Crédit Agricole SA, then reviewed the Foundation's 10 years of activity and its impact, highlighting the unique alliance between the Foundation and a banking group with mutualist roots. The evening featured two roundtable discussions and speeches by two Foundation directors: HRH the Grand Duchess of Luxembourg and Jean-Michel Severino, President of Investisseurs & Partenaires.

Women and Africa, at the heart of the Foundation's actions

The issue of women's financial inclusion, a priority for the Foundation since its inception, was the subject of the first roundtable. Soukeyna Bâ, former Minister of Senegal and administrator of the Foundation, Nejira Nali, Director of Mi Bospo, a microfinance institution supported by the Foundation in Bosnia, and Bagoré Bathily, Founder of Laiterie du Berger, a Senegalese social enterprise in which the Foundation is a shareholder, discussed the importance of women's empowerment as a lever for development. In her speech, HRH the Grand Duchess of Luxembourg also highlighted the key role of women in the microfinance and entrepreneurship sectors, calling for more active participation from stakeholders in the world of finance in the fight against poverty.

The second round table of the evening focused on the Foundation's 10 years of action and brought together Professor Muhammad Yunus, 2006 Nobel Peace Prize winner, Raphaël Appert, Managing Director of Crédit Agricole Centre-est and First Vice-President of the Fédération Nationale de Crédit Agricole, and Philippe Brassac, Managing Director of Crédit Agricole SA. The founders of the Foundation reaffirmed their commitment to multiplying the Foundation's impact and better responding to the new challenges of the fight against poverty. Jean-Michel Severino's remarks then focused on development issues in Africa and the prospects for the inclusive finance sector in this diverse continent.

2019-2022: An ambitious action plan for greater impact

Digital transformation, ecological transition, and the structuring of agricultural sectors will be at the heart of the Foundation's actions over the next four years. With a target of €160 million in funding by 2022, the Foundation will continue to adapt by strengthening its expertise, expanding its areas of intervention, and working in partnership. This was the message delivered by Jean-Marie Sander in his closing speech, which was followed by a performance by the Phare Circus, a social enterprise in Cambodia in which the Foundation is a shareholder.

The Foundation's 10th anniversary marks the beginning of a magnificent, collective project. A new chapter in the Foundation's history—one that is collective, ambitious, and committed—has just begun.