1,8M€
Wallet
21 809
Number of beneficiaries
85 %
Women beneficiaries
8,5 %
Rural beneficiaries
Burkina Faso
Financial services
Funding granted
Loan of €457,000*
(local currency equivalent)
Partner of the Foundation
since 2014
*Outstanding at grant value
Context :
Agriculture contributes more than 301,000 billion to Burkina Faso's GDP and employs nearly 801,000 of the workforce. Despite a decline in poverty, 401,000 of the population still lives below the poverty line, and 571,000 of the population does not have a bank account.
The company:
ACFIME (Agence Communautaire pour le Financing de la Micro Entreprise) is a Tier 3 microfinance institution established in 1992 as a microfinance program launched by the American NGO World Relief. The institution's mission is to provide tailored financial and non-financial services to micro and small business developers in urban and rural areas, particularly women, to improve their economic and social well-being.
Impact :
ACFIME helps bridge the gap not covered by large MFIs operating across the country. With financial services for low-income populations severely limited in Burkina Faso, ACFIME's loans to severely underserved populations offer significant potential for social impact.
In 2018, the Foundation consolidated its presence in West Africa with 8 new loans
Over the past year, the Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation has strengthened its presence in West Africa with 8 new financings, including 3 from new partners.
In Mali, the Foundation has funded Kafo Jiginew, a mutual network of savings and credit unions that offers local financial services (savings, credit, microinsurance, fund transfers, and other services) to as many people as possible in Mali to improve their living conditions. The institution currently has 48,000 active clients, including 92% clients in rural areas. The Foundation has granted it a loan in local currency equivalent to €3 million over a five-year period.
In Benin, the Foundation granted a local currency loan equivalent to €1.4 million to a new partner, PEBCo Bethesda, whose mission is to improve people's living conditions by providing quality financial and non-financial services. The institution offers group and individual loans and has approximately 95,000 active borrowers, including 641 women and 331 in rural areas.
In Togo, the Foundation also funded a new partner, Assilassimé, with a loan in CFA francs equivalent to €500,000. Assilassimé is a program created in 2012 by Entrepreneurs du Monde for marginalized people. The institution provides them with financial (microcredit) and non-financial services (training, individualized support, social referrals). It currently has nearly 30,000 clients, including approximately 95,000 women.
In Burkina Faso, the Foundation also made three new investments in 2018 with existing partners, bringing its total commitments in the country to more than €4 million, or €13.81 billion of its commitments in sub-Saharan Africa as of the end of December 2018. ACFIME received a loan in FCFA equivalent to €305,000 over a three-year period. It is a microfinance institution that helps bridge the gap not covered by large MFIs operating throughout the country, as ACFIME's loans have very strong potential for social impact. It currently has 18,600 clients, including €901 billion women. PAMF-BF, for its part, received a loan in local currency equivalent to €1 million over a three-year period. The institution, which has approximately 28,400 clients, is primarily engaged in collecting savings and granting loans in Burkina Faso, in order to help better meet the financial needs of low-income populations within a strengthened framework of protection for its members and users. Finally, ACEP Burkina received a local currency loan equivalent to €1.5 million over a three-year period. Acep is a microfinance institution specializing in financing microenterprises and very small businesses in urban centers and their inner suburbs. The loans granted are primarily intended to finance working capital and investment needs. To date, the institution has 11,000 active borrowers.
Finally, in Senegal, the Foundation granted a local currency loan equivalent to €762,000 to CAURIE Microfinance, a socially responsible and financially viable microfinance institution whose mission is to contribute sustainably to the economic and social advancement of poor microentrepreneurs, primarily women. CAURIE currently has 71,000 clients, including 98% women. The Foundation also granted €100,000 in financing to SFA (Sénégalaise des Filières Alimentaires) in the form of a shareholder current account. SFA is a social enterprise that develops an inclusive value chain based on the production and marketing of rice, and in which the Foundation has been a shareholder since 2013.
For more information on the Foundation's partners, click here.