46,2M€
Wallet
26 485
Number of beneficiaries
58,2 %
Women beneficiaries
65,5 %
Rural beneficiaries
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Financial services
Funding granted
Loan of €800,000*
(local currency equivalent)
Partner of the Foundation
since 2018
*Outstanding at grant value
Context :
Bosnia and Herzegovina is a fragile, relatively small, open, and dependent transition economy, particularly on the European Union. The agricultural sector accounts for 5.61 billion pounds of GDP and nearly 18.61 billion pounds of total employment.
The company:
Mi-Bospo is a Tier 2 microfinance institution providing access to credit and non-financial services to individuals, but more specifically to women entrepreneurs, with low incomes, in order to strengthen entrepreneurship and their economic and social status.
Impact :
Mi-Bospo offers responsible financing by applying consumer protection principles, which tend to play an important role in the development of women's entrepreneurship. By supporting and encouraging the entrepreneurial spirit among women, MI-BOSPO believes it economically strengthens families and impacts poverty reduction within society.
The Foundation continues its investments in Eastern Europe and Central Asia
© Didier Gentilhomme
In 2018, the Foundation continued its investments in the Eastern European and Central Asian regions with the granting of a total of seven loans from six partners for a cumulative amount of 7.6 million euros, representing 19% of the new investments made during the past year.
The Foundation thus invested for the first time in Bosnia and Herzegovina with the granting of a loan of 2 million euros to the microfinance institution Mi-Bospo, which offers access to credit and non-financial services to individuals, and in particular to women entrepreneurs. The institution also provides responsible financing by applying the principles of consumer protection, which play an important role in the development of women's entrepreneurship. To date, Mi-Bospo has more than 22,500 clients, including 64% women. The Foundation also granted an initial loan of 1 million euros to Mikra, a microfinance institution founded by CRS (Catholic Relief Services) and which offers the poorest working populations (and mainly women, representing 70.2% of its 13,400 clients) access to affordable and quality financial and support services.
In Kazakhstan, the Foundation granted a second loan in local currency equivalent to €608,000 to the microfinance institution Bereke, which it has been financing since 2017. Bereke, which has 5,200 clients, including 76% women, aims to contribute to improving citizens' living standards through economic support provided through loans to small and microenterprises as well as agricultural, consumer, and housing loans.
The Foundation also granted a new loan, its third since 2016, to the microfinance institution OXUS Kyrgyzstan, amounting to €687,000 over a three-year period. The institution offers individual financing and group loans, with OXUS's nearly 7,000 clients working primarily in the agriculture and livestock sectors.
In Kosovo, the Foundation also funded a new partner, AFK (Agency for Microfinance in Kosovo), with a €1.4 million loan over a three-year period. AFK is a microfinance institution that aims to improve living conditions in the country by providing micro and small businesses with access to sustainable financial services. The institution has 17,500 clients, 781 of whom are located in rural areas.
Finally, in Tajikistan, the Foundation granted two loans totaling €1.9 million to the microfinance institution Humo, a partner since 2017. The Foundation thus granted a total of three loans to this institution, whose main activity is to offer quality and affordable financial services to rural populations, as well as to promote the development of small and medium-sized enterprises in poor regions of the country. To date, Humo has nearly 50,000 clients, 81.5% in rural areas and 44.4% women.
The Foundation celebrates its 10th anniversary
© Philippe Lissac
On November 20, Crédit Agricole SA and the Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation hosted an evening to mark the Foundation's tenth anniversary. The event took place at the Salle Wagram in Paris and brought together nearly 200 guests. After 10 years of work, the Foundation and its partners reaffirm their commitment to inclusive and sustainable finance.
An evening to mark the Foundation's 10th anniversary
The event, organized to mark the Foundation's tenth anniversary, brought together nearly 200 people at the Salle Wagram in Paris and provided an opportunity to celebrate the Foundation's 10th anniversary alongside its founders, directors, and partners. Foundation President Jean-Marie Sander opened the evening by recalling the Foundation's origins and how, 10 years later, with over €200 million in funding granted and 100 partners supported, the Foundation and its founders, Crédit Agricole and the Grameen Trust, continue to work together for socially responsible finance.
Eric Campos, General Delegate of the Foundation and CSR Director of Crédit Agricole SA, then reviewed the Foundation's 10 years of activity and its impact, highlighting the unique alliance between the Foundation and a banking group with mutualist roots. The evening featured two roundtable discussions and speeches by two Foundation directors: HRH the Grand Duchess of Luxembourg and Jean-Michel Severino, President of Investisseurs & Partenaires.
Women and Africa, at the heart of the Foundation's actions
The issue of women's financial inclusion, a priority for the Foundation since its inception, was the subject of the first roundtable. Soukeyna Bâ, former Minister of Senegal and administrator of the Foundation, Nejira Nali, Director of Mi Bospo, a microfinance institution supported by the Foundation in Bosnia, and Bagoré Bathily, Founder of Laiterie du Berger, a Senegalese social enterprise in which the Foundation is a shareholder, discussed the importance of women's empowerment as a lever for development. In her speech, HRH the Grand Duchess of Luxembourg also highlighted the key role of women in the microfinance and entrepreneurship sectors, calling for more active participation from stakeholders in the world of finance in the fight against poverty.
The second round table of the evening focused on the Foundation's 10 years of action and brought together Professor Muhammad Yunus, 2006 Nobel Peace Prize winner, Raphaël Appert, Managing Director of Crédit Agricole Centre-est and First Vice-President of the Fédération Nationale de Crédit Agricole, and Philippe Brassac, Managing Director of Crédit Agricole SA. The founders of the Foundation reaffirmed their commitment to multiplying the Foundation's impact and better responding to the new challenges of the fight against poverty. Jean-Michel Severino's remarks then focused on development issues in Africa and the prospects for the inclusive finance sector in this diverse continent.
2019-2022: An ambitious action plan for greater impact
Digital transformation, ecological transition, and the structuring of agricultural sectors will be at the heart of the Foundation's actions over the next four years. With a target of €160 million in funding by 2022, the Foundation will continue to adapt by strengthening its expertise, expanding its areas of intervention, and working in partnership. This was the message delivered by Jean-Marie Sander in his closing speech, which was followed by a performance by the Phare Circus, a social enterprise in Cambodia in which the Foundation is a shareholder.
The Foundation's 10th anniversary marks the beginning of a magnificent, collective project. A new chapter in the Foundation's history—one that is collective, ambitious, and committed—has just begun.