Bosnia and Herzegovina is a fragile, relatively small transition economy open and dependent on the outside world, including the European Union. The agricultural sector accounts for 5.6% of GDP and almost 18.6% of total employment.
The Institution:
Mi-Bospo is a Tier 2 microfinance institution that offers access to credit and non financial services to individuals, and in particular to low-income women entrepreneurs in order to strengthen entrepreneurship and their economic and social status.
Impact:
Mi-Bospo offers responsible financing by applying the principles of consumer protection, which tend to play an important role in the development of female entrepreneurship. By supporting and encouraging the entrepreneurial spirit among women, MI-BOSPO strengthens families economically and influences the reduction of poverty in society.
In 2018, The Foundation continued to invest in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, granting a total of seven loans to six partners for a total of €7.6 million, wich represents 19% of the new investments made over the year.
The Foundation invested for the first time in Bosnia-Herzegovina, granting a loan of €2 million to Mi-Bospo, a micro-finance institution that provides access to credit and non-financial services to private individuals, in particular to women entrepreneurs. The institution moreover provides responsible financing by applying the consumer protection principles which play a significant role in the development of female entrepreneurship. Mi-Bospo has more than 22,500 clients at this time, 64% of whom are women. The Foundation also provided a first loan of €1 million to Mikra, a microfinance institution founded by Catholic Relief Services (CRS) which provides access to affordable, quality financial and support services to the poorest working populations (mainly women who account for 70.2% of its 13,400 clients).
In Kazakhstan, the Foundation granted a second loan in local currency equivalent to €608,000 to Bereke, a microfinance institution which it has financed since 2017. The mission of Bereke, which has 5,200 clients, 76% of whom are women, is to help improve the standard of living of citizens through economic support provided by means of loans to small and microenterprises as well as by means of agricultural, consumer or housing loans.
The Foundation has also granted a new loan (the third since 2016) to the microfinance institution Oxus Kirghizstan, for an amount of €687,000 over a period of three years. The institution provides individual and group loans to nearly 7,000 clients, most of whom work in agriculture and livestock breeding.
The Foundation has also financed a new partner Agency for Microfinance in Kosovo (AFK) with a loan of €1.4 million over three years. AFK is an institution that aims to improve the living conditions in the country by offering small and microenterprises access to sustainable financial services. It has 17,500 clients, 78% of whom live in rural areas.
Finally, in Tajikistan, the Foundation granted two loans for a total amount of €1.9 million to Humo, an MFI partner since 2017. The Foundation has thus granted a total of three loans to this institution, the main activity of which is to provide affordable, quality financial services to people living in rural areas, as well as to promote the development of small and medium-sized enterprises in the country’s poor regions. Humo has nearly 50,000 clients at this time, 81% of whom live in rural areas, and 44.4% of whom are women.
A festive evening to mark the 10th anniversary of the Foundation
The event organised to mark the 10th anniversary of the Foundation brought together nearly 200 people at the Salle Wagram in Paris, and was an opportunity to celebrate the 10 years of the Foundation alongside the founders, Board members and partners of the Foundation. The Chairman of the Foundation Jean-Marie Sander opened the evening by reminding the origin of the Foundation and how, 10 years later with over €200 million of financings and 100 partners supported, the Foundation and its founders Crédit Agricole and Grameen Trust continue to act together in support of socially responsible finance.
Eric Campos, Managing Director of the Foundation and Head of Corporate Social Responsibility at Crédit Agricole S.A. assessed the Foundation’s 10 years of activity and its impact, highlighting the particularity of the alliance between the Foundation and a banking group with mutualist roots. The evening was organised around two panel discussions and speeches by two directors of the Foundation: HRH the Grand Duchess of Luxembourg and Jean-Michel Severino, President of Investisseurs & Partenaires.
Women and the Africas at the heart of the Foundation’s actions
The issue of women’s financial inclusion, a priority for the Foundation since its inception, was the topic of the first panel discussion. Soukeyna Bâ, former Minister of Senegal and Board member of the Foundation, Nejira Nalic, CEO of Mi Bospo, a microfinance institution supported by the Foundation in Bosnia, and Bagoré Bathily, Founder of Laiterie du Berger, a Senegalese social company of which the Foundation is a shareholder, discussed the importance of women empowerment as a lever for development. In her speech, HRH the Grand Duchess of Luxembourg also underlined the leading role of women in the microfinance and entrepreneurship sector, hoping for a more active participation of all financial actors in the fight against poverty.
The overview of the Foundation’s 10 years of activity was at the centre of the second panel discussion, which brought together Pr. Muhammad Yunus, 2006 Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Raphaël Appert, CEO of Crédit Agricole Center-Est and First Vice-CHairman of the National Federation of Credit Agricole, and Philippe Brassac, CEO of Crédit Agricole S.A. The founders of the Foundation reaffirmed their commitment to leverage the impact of the Foundation and better meet the new challenges of the fight against poverty. Jean-Michel Severino’s remarks then focused on development issues in Africa and the prospects of the inclusive finance sector in this plural continent.
2019-2022: An ambitious action plan for enhanced impact
Digital transformation, ecological transition and structuring of agricultural sectors will be at the heart of the Foundation’s actions over the next four years. With a target of €160 million of funding by 2022, the Foundation will continue to adapt by strengthening its expertise, expanding its fields of intervention and working in partnership. This is the message addressed by Jean-Marie Sander in his closing speech which was followed by a show of the Phare circus, a social company in Cambodia of which the Foundation is a shareholder.
The 10 years of the Foundation represent a magnificent project carried collectively. A new chapter has just begun in the history of the Foundation, collective, ambitious and committed.
