Crédit Agricole's Solidarity Bankers: a great success for this impactful scheme

By Carolina Viguet, Director of Communication & Partnerships, FGCA

Three years after its launch, the success of the Solidarity Bankers program confirms the commitment of employees and the Group's desire to support projects with social impact. Since 2018, the program has launched 28 missions in some fifteen countries for 19 organizations supported by the Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation. This represents 316 days of missions planned or completed by 34 Solidarity Bankers.

An impact project with the Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation

Launched by the Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation and Crédit Agricole SA in 2018, Solidarity Bankers is a skills-based volunteer program open to all Crédit Agricole Group employees in support of microfinance institutions and impact businesses supported by the Foundation.

The "Solidarity Bankers" program has a twofold objective: it enhances the skills of Crédit Agricole Group employees and provides additional support to microfinance institutions and corporate partners of the Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation. This is the first time that a partnership of this type has been launched by the Crédit Agricole Group.

Senegal, Morocco, Cambodia… a great success

Some emblematic missions of the program:

• With the support of Crédit Agricole de Franche-Comté, a Solidarity Banker spent two years helping La Laiterie structure the dairy sector in Senegal. Another Solidarity Banker from Crédit Agricole CIB spent two weeks supporting KOSSAM SDE, a subsidiary of La Laiterie, in the deployment of a digital application. Other missions for La Laiterie are planned for 2022.
• A Crédit Agricole SA Solidarity Banker carried out a mission in cooperation with Crédit du Maroc to improve the anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing (AML-CFT) systems of the Al Karama Foundation, which grants microcredits to low-income people in Morocco.
• In Cambodia, a Solidarity Banker spent two weeks, with the support of Crédit Agricole Val de France, to assist Cirque Phare (PPSE), a social enterprise that promotes social inclusion and youth empowerment through Cambodian culture and arts, in its financial management and organizational structure.

"This experience undoubtedly exceeded my expectations, both in terms of the mission carried out and on a human level." Olivier Mancini, Head of Recovery at Crédit Agricole du Languedoc, who carried out a mission for OXUS in Tajikistan in September 2021. Discover his testimony here.

"I especially remember the warm welcome and the wonderful encounters." Andreas Brunner, Internal Audit Supervisor at Crédit Agricole Assurances, who carried out a mission for OXUS in Kyrgyzstan in October 2021. Discover his testimony here.

Missions to be filled

Some missions are still available and others are being scheduled for 2022:

• “LCB-FT” mission in favor of SEF in South Africa
• “Digital Strategy” Mission for OXUS in Kyrgyzstan
• “LCB-FT” mission in favor of Bimas in Kenya

With this initiative, the Crédit Agricole group is strengthening its Societal Project alongside the Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation in favor of more inclusive finance.

You will find more information on the missions here.

To apply, send your CV and a cover paragraph to Carolina Viguet: carolina.viguet@credit-agricole-sa.fr