Kenya is a middle-income country. Agriculture is very important, as the livestock sector accounts for nearly 10% of GDP and supports some 1.8 million people. The tea industry generates about US$1.5 billion and Kenya is the world’s leading exporter of black tea.
The Institution:
Musoni DTM Limited is a Tier 2 microfinance institution created in 2010 by Musoni BV. Its mission is to establish, develop and maximise the potential of businesses created by disadvantaged and unbanked people through the provision of affordable, flexible and customer-focused financial services.
Impact:
Musoni Kenya offers financial services exclusively by mobile phone. It is the first MFI in the world to have gone 100% mobile with zero-disbursement services since its inception. It offers group loans, loans to individual businesses and farmers, as well as emergency and education loans.
The Smart Campaign is a global initiative to incorporate strong client protection principles into the financial inclusion industry. The Smart Campaign’s Client Protection Certification programme publicly recognizes those institutions providing financial services to low-income households whose standards of care uphold the Smart Campaign’s seven Client Protection Principles. These principles cover such important areas such as pricing, transparency, fair and respectful treatment and prevention of over-indebtedness.
The certification programme contains a rigorous set of standards against which institutions are evaluated by independent, third-party raters that are licensed by the Smart Campaign. The raters are established, specialized rating agencies with extensive experience, having analyzed hundreds of institutions to date.
In 2019, in addition to the action of Chamroeun, partner of the Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation since 2010, this initiative also publicly recognised the action of two other microfinance institutions, partners of the Foundation, as Client Protection Certified for meeting strong standards of client care: Musoni (Kenya) and Salym Finance (Kyrgyzstan).
These institutions join almost 120 others in over 40 countries that have been certified since the programme was launched in January 2013.
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.
For further information about Grameen Credit Agricole Foundation partners, please click here..
The Foundation grants 7 new fundings in sub-Saharan Africa
During the first half of the year, the Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation has granted seven new fundings in sub-Saharan Africa to historic partners.
In Benin, the RENACA microfinance institution received a loan in local currency equivalent to € 762,000 over a three-year period. RENACA is a mutual microfinance institution whose mission is to significantly strengthen the economic base of rural populations. To date, the institution has 27,000 active borrowers, 80% of whom live in rural areas and 59.5% of whom are women.
In Kenya, the Foundation granted a new loan in local currency equivalent to € 2 million to the microfinance institution Musoni. Musoni Kenya is a microfinance institution that leverages Information Communication Technology (ICT) heavily to manage its operations efficiently and to scale rapidly. To date, the institution has 44,000 active borrowers, 66.3% of whom are women and 63.3% of whom live in rural areas.
In Uganda, ENCOT received a new loan in local currency equivalent to € 296,000 over a three-year period. This loan was made within the framework of the African Facility, a programme developed by the Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation in partnership with the French Development Agency to support small microfinance institutions in sub-Saharan Africa. ENCOT is an indigenous rural community development microcredit and rural-enterprise development NGO whose goal is to provide financial and enterprise development services. To date, the institution has 6,200 active borrowers, 56% of whom are women and 88.4% live in rural areas.
Similarly, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Foundation granted a loan equivalent to € 540,000 within the framework of the African Facility, to the microfinance institution Paidek, an institution whose role is to finance the development of small commercial or livestock-raising activities. To date, Paidek has 15,500 active borrowers, 51% of whom are women and 31.2% of whom live in rural clients.
In Zambia, the Foundation also provided a new loan in local currency equivalkent to € 300,000 over a three-year period to Agora Microfinance Zambia (AMZ), within the framework of the African Facility. AMZ is a microfinance institution which targets specifically people with low incomes through suitable financial products. To date, it has 37,100 active borrowers, 58% of whom are women and 85% of whom live in rural areas.
Finally, in Senegal, the Foundation has made two new investments. A first investment was made with the microfinance institution CAURIE in the form of a loan, for an amouint in local currency equivalent to € 1.14 million over a four-year period. Caurie Microfinance’s mission is to contribute to the economic and social improvement of poor microentrepreneurs. The institution now has 72,200 active borrowers, 99% of whom are women. 55% of Caurie’s customers live in rural areas. The second investment made by the Foundation in this country was made in the form of an equity investment to Laiterie du Berger for an amount equivalent to € 99,700. La Laiterie du Berger, of whom the Foundation has been a shareholder since 2010, 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.
With these new investments, the Foundation raises the amount of its commitments in Sub-Saharan Africa to nearly € 41 million, that is 41% of the total amount of the Foundation’s commitments as of end of August 2019.
Two Solidarity Banker missions are to be filled in Kenya and Cambodia: a Management Control mission to support Musoni, a microfinance institution based in Kenya and a financial management mission to support Phare Circus (PPSE), a Cambodian social enterprise.
Solidarity Banker is a skills-based volunteering scheme launched in 2018 by the Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation and Crédit Agricole SA, set up for the employees of the Crédit Agricole Group on behalf of microfinance institutions or social impact companies, partners of the Foundation.
Missions to be filled
A “Control Management” mission is planned for the third quarter of 2019 to support Musoni in Kenya. Musoni is a microfinance institution that provides financial services through mobile payments to people excluded from the mainstream banking system. To strengthen performance management, Musoni wishes to implement a balanced scorecard methodology. The Solidarity Banker will be responsible for structuring a balanced scorecard with key performance indicators and making recommendations on its implementation.
A “Financial management” mission will be held in September 2019 to support the Cirque Phare (PPSE) in Cambodia. The Cirque Phare (PPSE) provides employment opportunities for Cambodian artists and sustains the arts sector in the country. PPSE has now entered a growth phase and requires strengthening certain aspects of its management, including strategic, financial and human resources management. The Solidarity Banker will be responsible for proposing monitoring tools and making recommendations on the organisational structure.
How to apply?
Several missions are to be published on CA Solidaires. To discover them:
1. Go to the CA Solidaires website “Find a project”
2. Enter “Grameen” in the search bar. All the Solidarity Leave offers will appear!
3. Click on the offer of your choice, you will find all the information you need to apply.
For more information, please contact carolina.herrera@credit-agricole-sa.fr
To find out more about the missions to be filled, click here.
A first successful year for the Solidarity banker programme
By Carolina Herrera, Fondation Grameen Crédit Agricole
At the initiative of the Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation and Crédit Agricole S.A., “Solidarity Banker” missions are offered to Crédit Agricole Group employees on behalf of microfinance institutions or companies with a social impact supported by the Foundation.
Senegal, Morocco, Haiti… : a great success for the first year
Less than a year after its launch in 2018, the success of the program confirms the commitment and willingness of employees to support projects with a social impact. This is the first time that a partnership of this type has been launched by Crédit Agricole and the Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation. The objective is twofold: on the one hand, to enhance the skills of Crédit Agricole Group employees and, on the other hand, to provide additional support to the Foundation’s microfinance institutions and partner companies with one- to two-week missions in the field.
In 2018, six missions were launched, three of which were carried out in 2018 and three planned for 2019. For example, a mission took place in Cambodia with the support of Crédit Agricole’s International Retail Banking (BPI) to support the human resources management of Chamroeun, a partner microfinance institution serving more than 27,500 clients. Another mission was carried out in Senegal, in partnership with Crédit Agricole Franche-Comté, in favour of Laiterie du Berger, a social enterprise in which the Foundation is a shareholder. In addition, with the support of the Regional Bank, the Solidarity Banker who carried out the mission left for 2 years to support Kossam, the Dairy’s project to structure the dairy sector in Senegal.
A mission launched in 2018 will be carried out in July 2019 in cooperation with Crédit du Maroc and Crédit Agricole SA to improve the Al Karama Foundation’s anti-money laundering and anti-terrorist financing systems (AML-FT). The institution currently supports more than 26,200 clients in Morocco. Another mission launched in 2018 will be carried out in Haiti to support Palmis Enèji, a social enterprise that offers clean and accessible cooking and lighting solutions to Haitian households. Crédit Agricole Corporate Investment Bank supports the Solidarity Banker, who will carry out the entire mission in terms of skills sponsorship.
Cambodia, Kenya, Tajikistan… in 2019 the programme scales up
To date, six missions have been launched in 2019. A mission in favour of Kossam, the Laiterie du Berger project, which aims to develop a sustainable dairy sector in Senegal. The Solidarity Banker will be responsible for supporting Kossam in the deployment of a digital “commcare collection” application. Another mission is planned to support the financial management and organizational structure of Cirque Phare (PPSE) in Cambodia. PPSE aims to promote the social inclusion and empowerment of young people through Cambodian culture and arts. A mission will take place in favour of ACRE Africa, which provides crop insurance services to smallholders. The Solidarity Banker will be responsible for analysing the organisation’s new business strategy.
For these first missions launched in 2019, the selection process for Solidarity Bankers has been finalised. To date, three new missions are to be filled: a mission to support the “business model” of Humo, a microfinance institution in Tajikistan; a “management control” mission to support Musoni, a microfinance institution in Kenya; and a “digital” mission to support SFA, a social enterprise in Senegal.
Other missions are currently being planned with the support of the Crédit Agricole Group’s entities and Regional Banks. With this scheme, the Group reaffirms its commitment to support employees’ solidarity initiatives and work alongside the Foundation to promote more inclusive and sustainable finance.
