866,9 M€
Wallet
2 915 137
Number of beneficiaries
98,5 %
Women beneficiaries
85 %
Rural beneficiaries
India
Financial services
Funding granted
€4.5 million guarantee *
(local currency equivalent)
Partner of the Foundation
since 2019
*Outstanding at grant value
Context :
India is the world's fourth-largest agricultural producer. The primary sector employs approximately 47,130 million workers and accounts for nearly 18,000 million of GDP. The population is still rural, accounting for over 70,000. However, extreme weather events in recent years have been a major factor in the decline in farmers' incomes.
The company:
Annapurna Finance Private Limited (AFPL) is a Tier 1 microfinance institution established in 2010 by Gobinda Chandra Pattanaik. Its mission is to empower women and poor households for their economic security and to provide recognition, legitimacy, respect, and opportunities to microentrepreneurs.
Impact :
Annapurna aims to empower 2,000,000 women and poor households and provide opportunities for 500,000 microentrepreneurs by 2020. To date, the institution has nearly 1.7 million clients, almost exclusively women.
Four new investments in Asia for the Foundation
The Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation has just made four new investments in Asia, including a new partner in India. To date, the Foundation has 16 partners in Asia with a portfolio of €25 million.
Thus, in partnership with CA CIB India, the Foundation granted a guarantee equivalent to €5 million to the Indian microfinance institution Annapurna, for a loan granted by CA CIB India in local currency. Annapurna Finance Pvt. Ltd (AFPL) was established in 2009 and is now among the top ten NBFC MFIs in the country. The institution was established with the aim of serving economically backward clients by bringing them into integration, by providing needs-based financial services at their doorsteps. Its main objectives are to provide financial assistance for economic empowerment, offer tailor-made and needs-based products to meet all the needs of the clients' life cycle, and prioritize women and involve them directly in productive activities through self-help groups and access to finance, in order to create additional income opportunities. To date, the institution serves 1.6 million active borrowers, including 99% women and 85% rural borrowers.
Similarly, in Myanmar, the Foundation granted a new loan in local currency equivalent to €2.3 million over a four-year period to VisionFund Myanmar, a microfinance institution that lends small amounts of money to individuals who lack a measurable credit history, assets to secure loans, or access to traditional sources of financing. To date, VisionFund Myanmar has more than 190,000 clients, including 86% women and 59% clients in rural areas.
Also in Myanmar, the Foundation also granted a new loan in local currency equivalent to €1.8 million over a four-year period to the microfinance institution Proximity Designs on behalf of Proximity Finance, a microfinance program whose objective is to eradicate extreme poverty by treating the poor as clients. To date, the program has 117,000 clients, including 69% women.
Finally, in Cambodia, the Foundation granted a loan equivalent to €1.6 million to Chamroeun, a long-standing partner of the Foundation since 2010. Chamroeun is a microfinance institution that provides financial services to the poorest, excluded from the services offered by more commercial microfinance institutions. The institution serves more than 30,000 clients, including 821,000 women.