Indonesia has a market economy in which the government is heavily involved. There are more than 164 state-owned enterprises and the government controls the prices of several commodities such as oil, rice and electricity. Indonesia has many assets with extensive areas of agriculture, forestry and fisheries.
The Institution:
KOMIDA is a Tier 2 microfinance institution that was established in 2004 as a foundation to provide financial assistance in the form of savings and loans, non financial services (health training), motivating education for members’ children, family financial management and quality services to members.
Impact:
KOMIDA started providing microcredit in 2005 to the tsunami- affected population in Banda Aceh province. The institution was transformed into a savings and loan cooperative in 2008. It is geared exclusively to women.
The Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation has granted a new loan in local currency equivalent to € 2.1 million to the Indonesian microfinance institution Komida, over a three-year period. This loan is the fourth granted by the Foundation to Komida, a partner since 2014.
With this new investment, the Foundation’s commitments to Komida as of end of December 2017 amount to € 3 million that is 68% of the commitments of the Foundation in Indonesia, where it currently has three partners. Komida is a microfinance institution that began offering microloans in 2005 to communities affected by the tsunami in Banda Aceh. The institution exclusively targets women following the Grameen Bank model.
Created in 2008, under the joint impetus of the directors of Crédit Agricole S.A. and Professor Yunus, winner of the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize and founder of the Grameen Bank, the Grameen Crédit Agricole SA Foundation is a multi-business operator that contributes to the fight against poverty through financial inclusion and entrepreneurship with a social impact. As an investor, lender, technical assistance coordinator and fund advisor, the Foundation supports microfinance institutions and social enterprises in nearly 40 countries.
The Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation has made new investments in its Asian partners with five loans granted in Indonesia, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Cambodia.
It has thus granted a €2.1 million loan to KOMIDA, a historical partner of the Foundation which is active in Indonesia exclusively among women. KOMIDA is a microfinance NGO which started to provide microloans in 2005 to the population hit hard by the tsunami in Banda Aceh province. The institution was transformed into a savings and loan cooperative in 2008 and now has more than 545,000 clients.
The Foundation has moreover granted a €1.1 million loan to Proximity in Myanmar. Proximity Finance is a microfinance programme developed by Proximity Designs intended to eradicate extreme poverty in the country by treating the poor as clients and by proposing innovative and affordable technologies and services to the families it finances and which earn their living by cultivating small plots of land. The institution has nearly 100,000 clients, 66% of whom are women.
In Sri Lanka, the Foundation granted a new €347,000 loan to Berendina, a microfinance institution dedicated to reducing poverty and improving the living conditions of the poorest groups in the country. Berendina today has 99,000 clients, 87% of whom are women. All its clients are in rural areas.
Finally, in Cambodia, the Foundation has granted two loans to Ankor Mikroheranhvatho (Kampuchea) Co. Ltd (AMK) and to Chamroeun of €2.5 million and €973,000 respectively. AMK provides loans mainly through village banking, giving priority to poor women in rural areas, and to farming activities. Since 2010, the institution has also been authorized to collect savings. It has nearly 325,000 clients at this time, 93% of whom are in rural areas, and 81% women. For its part, Chamroeun, which has 26,300 clients, is a microfinance institution that puts social purpose at the heart of its economic model. It provides financial services to the poorest segments of the population along with a range of training and support services.
At the end of December 2018, the Asia region, where the Foundation has 14 partners, accounted for 25% of all the commitments and 17.6% of new loans provided in the course of the period.
The Foundation continues to support its partners in Asia
During the first quarter of 2021, the Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation completed three new financings in Asia, in particular in Indonesia.
In Indonesia, the Foundation granted a new loan to the microfinance institution KOMIDAfor an amount in local currency equivalent to €2.2 million. KOMIDA is a microfinance institution created in 2004 as a foundation to offer financial assistance in the form of savings and loan services as well as non-financial services such as health or family financial management training. The institution, which works exclusively with women, currently serves nearly 720,000 clients.
Also in Indonesia, the Foundation granted a new loan to the microfinance institution MBKfor an amount in local currency equivalent to € 5 million. “Mitra Bisnis Keluarga” (MBK) is a microfinance institution regulated by the Indonesian Financial Services Authority (FSA) and licensed as a non-bank finance company. Using the Grameen Bank methodology, MBK provides working capital to low-income women in Java to give them access to formal and profitable financial services (financial inclusion), reduce their vulnerability and improve their lives. To date, the institution serves more than one million clients, exclusively women, 75% of whom below the poverty line.
In Myanmar, the Foundation granted a new loan to Proximity Finance for an amount in local currency equivalent to € 1.4 million. Proximity is a microfinance institution created in Myanmar in 2010 that designs and delivers affordable and income-generating products for rural families. The institution strives to improve the livelihoods of rural Myanmar people by providing innovative financial services tailored to their needs, and uses the dynamism of businesses to create social value. To date Proximity has nearly 200,000 active borrowers, 69% of whom are women and 98% of whom live in rural areas.
To date, the Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation has 89 partners in 39 countries and manages a portfolio of €86 million, 46% of which is located in so-called fragile countries.
Newsletter #39 : The recovery of activities in the microfinance sector
The Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation publishes its Newsletter #39, which highlights the great resilience shown by its partner institutions to best support vulnerable populations.
The Foundation has been interested in the effects of the Covid-19 crisis on its partner microfinance institutions (MFIs) and conducted a series of surveys for over a year in collaboration with ADA and Inpulse. The results of these studies are summarized in the report “The impact of the crisis on microfinance institutions. Analyses and Perspectives.” that you will discover in this Newsletter.
There is no doubt that the pandemic has had a negative impact on the MFIs activities. However, we are witnessing a gradual recovery of activities in the sector, as KOMIDA can attest. Major actor of microfinance in Indonesia and partner of the Foundation since 2004, KOMIDA has succeeded in pursuing its expansion in rural areas with the opening of 10 additional branches in 2021. The institution continues to support its clients by emphasizing the granting of social-oriented microcredits.
In the section “Views from the field”, we present UGAFODE Microfinance Limited, a Ugandan MFI at the forefront of financial inclusion for refugees. Thanks to the support of the Foundation, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and the Swedish International Development Agency (Sida), UGAFODE opened in March 2020 a branch office in the Nakivale Refugee Settlement in Uganda. The initial results are very encouraging and the ambition is to expand the project to other regions.
Finally, you will discover the testimony of Jean-Baptiste Bounes, Mergers and Acquisitions Manager at SODICA, who carried out the first Solidarity Bankers mission online in favour of Phare Performing Social Enterprise (PPSE) in Cambodia.
Missions on the field and online are currently to be filled.
(*) Launched by the Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation and Crédit Agricole SA in June 2018, Solidarity Bankers is a skills volunteering programme aimed at all Crédit Agricole group employees for the benefit of microfinance institutions or impact businesses supported by the Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation.
