AFD and the Foundation strengthen their support for microfinance in Africa

The Foundation is strengthening its ties with its institutional partners through a new agreement signed in March 2017 between the Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation and the French Development Agency (AFD) for a period of 3 years.

A program to strengthen microfinance institutions

The "Take-off Facility for Agricultural and Rural Microfinance in Africa," established in partnership with the French Development Agency (AFD), was renewed in March 2017 for a period of three years. The first phase of the program, carried out between 2013 and 2016, helped strengthen microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Africa and support them towards operational self-sufficiency and financial sustainability.

At the end of December 2017, the program had 18 partners, 15 of which were located in six AFD priority countries[1]. In 2017, seven new partners joined the program, three of which were in two new countries of intervention under the Facility: the DRC and Rwanda. Loan contracts totaling €6,033,000 were approved and €3,707,363 were disbursed.

A second phase to multiply the impact of the project

The second phase of the program will run from 2017 to 2020 and will finance and provide technical assistance to more than twenty MFIs. The new AFD financing is structured around three components: a €6 million loan to develop the Facility's credit activity; a €2.2 million grant to contribute to technical assistance lines; and an ARIZ portfolio guarantee to cover 50,000 million of the loan production granted to MFIs in sub-Saharan Africa.

Since the signing of the second phase in March 2017, five technical assistance protocols have already been signed and 28 technical assistance missions have been completed or are underway. The missions aim to strengthen the risk profile of partner institutions through various themes such as developing a business plan, risk management, and improving the information system. The missions will also focus on measuring and managing social performance, agricultural financing, and green microfinance.

[1] Benin, Burkina Faso, Mali, DRC, Senegal, Togo