9,1M€
Wallet
38 738
Number of beneficiaries
81,3 %
Women beneficiaries
83,9 %
Rural beneficiaries
Togo
Financial services
Funding granted
Loan of €270,000*
(local currency equivalent)
Partner of the Foundation
since 2013
(3 loans granted)
*Outstanding at grant value
Context :
Togo has significant potential in agriculture, which represents 28% of the country's GDP and employs 62.5% of the active population (ILOSTAT), despite this, the sector remains underexploited.
The company:
COOPEC SIFA (Support for Women's Initiatives for Self-Promotion) is a Togolese institution created to institutionalize the project set up by JARC (Movement of Rural and Catholic Youth and Adults) with the aim of offering small loans to poor women living in northern Togo.
Impact :
In a sustainable and professional approach, COPEC SIFA offers financial and non-financial products and services to poor populations, particularly women and other socio-economic categories in the Savanes region.
During the first quarter, the Foundation made five investments in Africa
During the first quarter of 2019, the Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation intensified its presence with its African partners by granting five new financings, notably in the form of senior loans. As of the end of March 2019, it had 40 partners in Sub-Saharan Africa, representing 42% of the total outstanding amount.
The Foundation thus granted, as part of the African Facility program, a local currency loan equivalent to €800,000 to the microfinance institution Eclof Kenya, which offers financial and non-financial services to micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises in the country, while actively promoting savings. To date, the institution, which finances 58% of women, has more than 30,000 clients, 60% in rural areas.
Also in East Africa, the Foundation also granted a new loan in local currency equivalent to €1 million to UGAFODE, a Ugandan microfinance institution whose primary mission is to provide its clients with affordable primary financial services. The institution currently has 17,300 clients, including nearly 201,000 women and approximately 801,000 rural clients.
In West Africa, the Foundation granted a new loan to the Togolese microfinance institution Coopec Sifa for €305,000 in local currency. Coopec Sifa, which is financed under the African Facility, is a microfinance institution that offers small loans to its nearly 38,000 clients, primarily women (86%) in the north of the country.
In addition, ACEP Burkina was also granted a new loan of €2.3 million in CFA francs. This microfinance institution, a partner of the Foundation since 2016, specializes in financing microenterprises and very small businesses in urban centers and inner suburbs. It currently has 12,300 clients, including 20% women.
Finally, in Senegal, the Foundation strengthened its partnership with Laiterie du Berger, in which it has been a shareholder since 2010, by granting a loan in the form of a shareholder current account, for an amount in CFA francs equivalent to 229,000 euros. Laiterie du Berger is a social enterprise that recycles milk collected from Fulani herders in the north of the country, transforming it into yogurts and other dairy products sold under the Dolima brand.
To learn more about the Foundation's partners, click here.
TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE: COOPEC-SIFA (TOGO), PARTNER OF THE AFRICAN FACILITY SINCE 2013
In addition to the financial support provided by the Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation, Coopec-Sifa has benefited from support from the African Facility program. Philippe Fori, Managing Director of the MFI, discusses this relationship of trust with the Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation.
Could you introduce Coopec-Sifa to us?
Founded in 1997, Coopec-Sifa is a Tier 3 microfinance institution that provides financial and non-financial services to vulnerable populations. As of the end of December 2020, the institution had 43,232 clients with outstanding loans of €5.37 million. Approved in 2011 by the Togolese Ministry of Economy and Finance, Coopec-Sifa operates in the Savanes region of northern Togo. Our clients are organized individually or collectively and are predominantly women (72 %) living in rural areas (70 %).
How did the various technical assistance missions you benefited from go?
As part of the African Facility program, Coopec-Sifa has benefited since 2013 from 16 technical assistance missions aimed at strengthening our organization's institutions. Most of these missions were conducted by local experts, always with rigor and in close collaboration with our teams. Dedicated to strategy, organizational strengthening, human resources, or the information system, each mission has helped us progress.
Among the missions carried out, the relevant analysis of our environment allowed the development of the 2014-2018 and 2019-2021 business plans, integrating our strategic objectives, detailed financial projections and an action plan. A mission to strengthen risk management also led to the creation of an internal control procedures manual and training for internal controllers and members of the Supervisory Board, to enable them to fulfill their roles satisfactorily. Finally, another essential project was the improvement of the information system and the interconnection of each agency's databases with the headquarters.
How did these missions enable you to strengthen your institutional and operational capacities?
Managing an MFI requires real expertise. The partnership with the Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation has allowed us to integrate the best practices and knowledge necessary for the smooth running of our institution. The development of business plans has laid the foundation for controlled growth, better risk management, and improved governance. Furthermore, the interconnection of databases represents a real added value both internally and externally. We now have reliable, real-time financial and operational information, enhanced control of field activities, and professionalized institutional management. Our clients can carry out transactions without traveling, which is a real competitive advantage.
What is your view on the overall support provided by the Foundation?
The tools deployed to facilitate Coopec-Sifa's launch have proven extremely effective. Despite our limited geographic coverage, we are often cited by authorities as a model of cooperative management. Our institution would never have reached its current position without the support of the Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation. Beyond technical assistance, the Foundation encourages peer-to-peer meetings and experience sharing. The annual African Facility Forums bring together all the program's partners and are excellent opportunities for exchange and learning.