1,9M€
Wallet
4 527
Number of beneficiaries
47 %
Women beneficiaries
47 %
Rural beneficiaries
Burkina Faso
Financial services
Funding granted
Loan of €750,000*
(local currency equivalent)
Foundation Partner
since 2016
(3 loans granted)
*Outstanding at grant value
Context :
Agriculture contributes more than 301,000 tons of the country's GDP and employs nearly 801,000 tons of the workforce. Despite a decline in poverty, 401,000 tons of the population still lives below the poverty line, and 571,000 tons of the population does not have a bank account.
The institution:
PMBF is a Tier 3 microfinance institution created in 2008. Its mission is to support the development of economic initiatives for low-income populations, particularly micro and small entrepreneurs in rural, peri-urban and urban areas of Burkina Faso.
Impact :
PMBF offers profitable financial products and services tailored to the needs of its clients, both individually and in groups, while also providing non-financial support services. Furthermore, the institution contributes to the economic empowerment of women and youth in rural areas through the savings group methodology as part of a UNCDF training program.
The Foundation continues its development in sub-Saharan Africa
©Philippe Lissac
The Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation continues to invest significantly in sub-Saharan Africa, its priority area of intervention, with three new investments in South Africa, Zambia and Burkina Faso.
In South Africa, the Foundation funded SEF. Founded in 1992 in Limpopo Province, the poorest region of the country, SEF offers microfinance products to women living in poor rural communities. SEF has gained considerable international recognition thanks to its poverty targeting methodology, the Participatory Wealth Ranking, one of the first tools of its kind officially recognized and promoted by the Microcredit Summit Campaign. The institution, which has 197,359 active clients (99% women and 56% clients below the national poverty line), received its first loan equivalent to €3 million in local currency from the Foundation.
Similarly, the Foundation granted an initial loan to the microfinance institution MLF Zambia for an amount equivalent to €250,000 in local currency. MLF Zambia was established in 2008. Its activities are overseen by the Microloan Foundation, which is headquartered in the United Kingdom and regulated by the Charity Commission. MLF Zambia's main activity is to provide low-income women living in the predominantly rural areas of Zambia's Eastern, Southern, and Central provinces with short-term loans for productive purposes. The institution, which lends exclusively to women, has more than 11,000 clients. This investment is part of the African Facility mechanism developed in partnership with the AFD.
Still within the framework of the African Facility, the Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation also granted a new loan to the microfinance institution PMBF SA (formerly SOFIPE) in Burkina Faso, for an amount in local currency equivalent to €750,000 over a period of three years. PMBF-SA is a microfinance institution that provides small entrepreneurs with various financial products. To date, the institution has approximately 17,000 clients, including 67% women.
More information about the Foundation's partners here.