41,4M€
Wallet
190 366
Number of beneficiaries
72,8%
Women beneficiaries
99,3%
Rural beneficiaries
Myanmar
Financial services
Funding granted
Loan of €4.4M*
(local currency equivalent)
Foundation Partner
since 2017
*Outstanding at grant value
Context :
The agricultural sector remains a key contributor (281,000 people of GDP and 701,000 people of the working population), but the share of the service sector is increasing. The rural population stood at 69,421 people in 2018.
The institution:
Proximity is a microfinance institution established in 2010 in Myanmar that designs and delivers affordable, income-generating products for rural families.
Impact :
Proximity works to improve the livelihoods of rural Myanmar by providing innovative financial services tailored to their needs, and harnesses the dynamism of business to create social value.
Four new investments in Asia for the Foundation
© Philippe Lissac
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.
More information about the Foundation's partners here.
The Foundation makes new investments in Asia
© Didier Gentilhomme
The Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation has made new investments with its Asian partners, granting five loans in Indonesia, Burma, Sri Lanka, and Cambodia. In Asia, the Foundation has 14 partners, representing 251,000 TND of its total outstanding loans as of the end of December 2018.
It thus granted a loan of 2.1 million euros to KOMIDA, a long-standing partner of the Foundation, which works exclusively with women in Indonesia. KOMIDA is a microfinance NGO that began offering microcredit in 2005 to the tsunami-affected population in the province of Banda Aceh. The institution transformed into a savings and credit cooperative in 2008 and now has more than 545,000 clients.
The Foundation also granted a €1.1 million loan to Proximity in Burma. Proximity Finance is a microfinance program developed by Proximity Designs that aims to eradicate extreme poverty in the country by treating the poor as clients and offering innovative and affordable technologies and services to the families it finances, who earn their living by cultivating small plots of land. The institution has nearly 100,000 clients, including 66,133 women.
In Sri Lanka, the microfinance institution Berendina, whose mission is to reduce poverty and provide better living conditions for the country's poorest groups, received a guarantee from the Foundation for an amount of 331,000 euros. To date, Berendina has 99,000 clients, including 87% women. All of its clients are located in rural areas.
Finally, in Cambodia, the Foundation granted two new grants to AMK and Chamroeun, each worth €2.5 million and €973,000. AMK (Angkor Mikroheranhvatho (Kampuchea) Co. Ltd) primarily provides loans through the "village banking" methodology, primarily targeting poor women in rural areas, as well as agricultural activities. Since 2010, the institution has also been authorized to collect savings. To date, it has nearly 325,000 clients in 93% rural areas and 81% women. Chamroeun, for its part, has 26,300 clients and is a microfinance institution that places social vocation at the heart of its business model. It provides financial services to the poorest and also offers them a range of training and support services.
To learn more about the Foundation's partners, click here.