During the first quarter, the Foundation makes 5 new investments in Africa
During the first quarter of 2019, the Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation stepped up its presence with its African partners with the granting of five new financings, notably in the form of senior loans. At the end of March 2019, the Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation had 40 partners located in sub-Saharan Africa, which represents 42% of the Foundation’s commitments at the end of the first quarter.
As part of the African Facility programme, it has provided a loan in local currency equivalent to € 800,000 to Eclof Kenya, a microfinance institution that provides financial and non-financial services to micro, small and medium-sized enterprises in the country. while actively promoting savings. To date, the institution that finances 58% of women, has over 30,000 clients, 60% of them located in rural areas.
Also in East Africa, the Foundation has granted a new loan in local currency equivalent to €1 million to UGAFODE, a Ugandan microfinance institution whose main mission is to offer its clients affordable primary financial services. The institution currently has 17,300 clients, of whom almost 20% are women and about 80% are in rural areas.
In West Africa, the Foundation has granted a new loan to Togolese microfinance institution Coopec Sifa for a total amount in local currency equivalent to € 305,000. Coopec Sifa, which is funded under the African Facility programme, is a microfinance institution that offers small loans to its nearly 38,000 clients, mostly women (86%) in the north of the country.
In addition, ACEP Burkina has also been granted a new loan equivalent to €2.3 million in CFA francs. This microfinance institution, a partner of the Foundation since 2016, specialises in financing microenterprises and very small businesses in urban centers and near suburbs. It currently has 12,300 clients, 20% of whom are women.
Finally, in Senegal, the Foundation has strengthened its partnership with Laiterie du Berger, of which it has been a shareholder since 2010, with the granting of a loan in the form of ashareholders’ current account, for an amount in CFA francs equivalent to €229 000. Laiterie du Berger is a social company that collects milk from Fulani herders, in the North of the country, and transforms it into yogurts and other dairy products that are sold under the brand Dolima.
For more information on the Foundation’s partners, click here.
