12,2M€
Wallet
46 805
Number of beneficiaries
68 %
Women beneficiaries
66 %
Rural beneficiaries
Kenya
Financial services
Funding granted
Loan of €2.2M*
(local currency equivalent)
Foundation Partner
since 2016
*Outstanding at grant value
Context :
Kenya is a middle-income country. Agriculture plays a very important role, with the livestock sector contributing nearly 10 billion US dollars to the GDP and supporting approximately 1.8 million people. The tea sector generates approximately 1.5 billion US dollars, and Kenya is the world's leading exporter of black tea.
The company:
Musoni DTM Limited is a Tier 2 microfinance institution established in 2010 by Musoni BV. Its mission is to establish, develop, and maximize the potential of businesses established by disadvantaged and unbanked individuals through the provision of affordable, flexible, and client-focused financial services.
Impact :
Musoni Kenya offers financial services exclusively via mobile phones. It is the first MFI in the world to offer 100% mobile-first, cashless services from the outset. It offers group loans, credit for individual businesses and farmers, as well as emergency and education loans.
Two Foundation partners obtain Smart Certification
© Philippe Lissac
In 2019, the Smart Campaign recognized the client protection efforts of several Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation partners by awarding them Smart Certification. The Smart Campaign is a global initiative that aims to integrate client protection principles into the financial inclusion sector. The Smart Campaign's Client Protection Certification program publicly recognizes institutions that provide financial services to low-income households and whose treatment standards meet the Smart Campaign's seven client protection principles. These principles cover important areas such as pricing, transparency, fair and respectful treatment, and the prevention of over-indebtedness.
The certification program includes a set of rigorous standards against which institutions are assessed by independent third-party assessors accredited by the Smart Campaign. The assessors are specialized rating agencies with extensive experience and have analyzed hundreds of institutions to date.
In 2019, in addition to the work of Chamroeun, a partner of the Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation since 2010, this initiative also publicly recognized the work of two other microfinance institutions, partners of the Foundation, in terms of client protection by granting them Certification: Musoni (Kenya) and Salym Finance (Kyrgyzstan). These institutions thus joined the nearly 120 other organizations specializing in financial inclusion, in more than 40 countries, certified since the launch of the program in January 2013.
For more information on the Foundation's partners, click here.
The Foundation grants seven new grants in sub-Saharan Africa
During the first half of the year, the Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation granted seven new financing projects in sub-Saharan Africa to long-standing partners.
In Benin, the microfinance institution RENACA received a loan in local currency equivalent to €762,000. RENACA is a mutual institution whose mission is to significantly strengthen the economic base of rural populations. To date, the institution has 27,000 clients located in 801 rural areas, including 59.51 women.
In Kenya, the Foundation granted a new local currency loan equivalent to €2 million to the Musoni microfinance institution. The institution makes extensive use of information and communication technologies to manage its activities efficiently and adapt quickly. To date, the institution has 44,000 clients, including 66,313 women and 63,313 rural clients.
In Uganda, ENCOT received a new local currency loan equivalent to €296,000. This loan was granted under the African Facility, a program developed by the Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation in partnership with the French Development Agency to support small microfinance institutions in sub-Saharan Africa. ENCOT is an institution that offers financial and business development services. To date, the institution has 6,200 clients, including 561,000 women and 88,410,000 clients in rural areas.
In the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Foundation granted a €540,000 loan under the African Facility to the microfinance institution Paidek, whose role is to finance the development of small-scale commercial and livestock activities. To date, Paidek has 15,500 clients, including 511,000 women and 31,210,000 clients in rural areas.
In Zambia, the Foundation also granted a new local currency loan equivalent to €300,000 to the microfinance institution Agora Microfinance Zambia (AMZ), also within the framework of the African Facility. AMZ is a microfinance institution that specifically targets low-income individuals with appropriate financial products. It currently has 37,100 clients, including 581,300 women and 851,300 clients in rural areas.
Finally, in Senegal, the Foundation granted a loan to CAURIE Microfinance in local currency equivalent to €1.14 million. CAURIE's mission is to contribute sustainably to the economic and social advancement of microentrepreneurs. The institution currently has 72,200 clients, including 99% women and 55% in rural areas. A second investment was made in Senegal in the form of a stake in Laiterie du Berger for an amount equivalent to €99,700. Laiterie du Berger, in which the Foundation has been a shareholder since 2010, 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.
With these new investments, the Foundation brings the amount of its commitments in sub-Saharan Africa to nearly 41 million euros, or 41% of the total amount of the Foundation's commitments at the end of August 2019.
For more information: Supported organizations
Solidarity Banker missions to be filled in Kenya and Cambodia
©Philippe Lissac
Two Solidarity Banker missions are available in Kenya and Cambodia: a Management Control mission to support the Musoni microfinance institution in Kenya and a Financial Management mission to support Cirque Phare (PPSE), a Cambodian social enterprise.
Solidarity Banker is a skills volunteering program launched in 2018 by the Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation and Crédit Agricole SA, open to all Crédit Agricole Group employees on behalf of microfinance institutions or social impact companies, partners of the Foundation.
The missions to be filled
A Management Control mission is planned for the third quarter of 2019 to support Musoni in Kenya. Musoni is a microfinance institution that provides financial services through mobile payments to people excluded from the traditional banking system. To strengthen performance management, Musoni wants to implement a balanced scorecard methodology. The Solidarity Banker will be responsible for structuring a balanced scorecard with key performance indicators and making recommendations on its implementation.
A "Financial Management" mission is planned for September 2019 to support Cirque Phare (PPSE) in Cambodia. PPSE provides employment opportunities for Cambodian artists and sustains the country's arts sector. PPSE has now entered a growth phase and requires strengthening certain aspects of its management, particularly in terms of strategy, finance, and human resources. The Solidarity Banker will be responsible for proposing monitoring tools and making recommendations on the organizational structure.
How to apply?
Several missions are coming up on CA Solidaires. To discover them:
1. Go to the CA Solidaires website “Find your mission”
2. Enter "Grameen Foundation" in the search bar. All Solidarity Leave offers will appear!
3. Click on the offer of your choice, you will find all the information necessary for your application.
More information: carolina.herrera@credit-agricole-sa.fr
To learn more about the missions available, click here.
A successful first year for the Solidarity Bankers program
By Carolina Herrera, Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation
© Philippe Lissac
At the initiative of the Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation and Crédit Agricole SA, skills-based volunteering missions labeled "Solidarity Banker" are offered to Crédit Agricole Group employees on behalf of microfinance institutions or social impact companies supported by the Foundation.
Senegal, Morocco, Haiti…: a great success for the first year
Less than a year after its launch in 2018, the program's success confirms employees' commitment and willingness to support social impact projects. This is the first time a partnership of this type has been launched by Crédit Agricole and the Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation. The objective is twofold: first, to promote the skills of Crédit Agricole Group employees and second, to provide additional support to the Foundation's partner microfinance institutions and companies with one- to two-week field missions.
In 2018, six missions were launched, three of which were completed in 2018 and three planned for 2019. To date, four missions are already available for the third quarter of 2019. In 2018, six missions were launched, three of which were completed in 2018 and three planned for 2019. For example, a mission took place in Cambodia with the support of Crédit Agricole's International Retail Bank (BPI), to support the human resources management of Chamroeun, a partner microfinance institution that serves more than 27,500 clients. Another mission was conducted in Senegal, in partnership with Crédit Agricole Franche-Comté, for the Laiterie du Berger, a social enterprise in which the Foundation is a shareholder. Furthermore, with the support of the Regional Fund, the Solidarity Banker who carried out the mission left for 2 years to support Kossam, the Dairy project to structure the milk sector in Senegal.
A mission launched in 2018 will be carried out in July 2019 in cooperation with Crédit du Maroc and Crédit Agricole SA to improve the Al Karama Foundation's anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing (AML-CFT) systems. The institution currently supports more than 26,200 clients in Morocco. Another mission launched in 2018 will be carried out in Haiti to support Palmis Enèji, a social enterprise that offers clean and accessible cooking and lighting solutions to Haitian households. Crédit Agricole Corporate Investment Bank is supporting the Solidarity Banker, which will carry out the entire mission through skills sponsorship.
Cambodia, Kenya, Tajikistan… in 2019 the program changes scale
To date, six missions have been launched in 2019. One mission is for Kossam, the Laiterie du Berger project that aims to develop a sustainable dairy sector in Senegal. The Solidarity Banker will be tasked with supporting Kossam in the deployment of a digital application called "commcare collection." Another mission is planned to support the financial management and organizational structure of Cirque Phare (PPSE) in Cambodia. PPSE aims to promote social inclusion and youth empowerment through Cambodian culture and arts. Another mission will be for ACRE Africa, which offers crop insurance services to smallholder farmers. The Solidarity Banker will be tasked with analyzing the organization's new business strategy.
For these first missions launched in 2019, the selection process for Solidarity Bankers has been finalized. To date, three new missions are available: a "business model" role for the microfinance institution Humo in Tajikistan, a "Management Control" role to support the Musoni institution in Kenya, and a "digital" role to support the social enterprise SFA in Senegal.
Other missions are currently being planned with the support of Crédit Agricole Group entities and regional banks. With this initiative, the Group reaffirms its commitment to supporting employee solidarity initiatives and working alongside the Foundation to promote more inclusive and sustainable finance.
For more information, Click here.