The Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation continued its investments in Asia in the second half of 2023 with the signing of two new partnerships in India where it has two new partners.
Mitrata Inclusive financial services private limited started as an NGO program in 2010. The microfinance institution was established in 2017 by Dr. Aqueel Ahmed Khan and Mr. Prabhakar Rawat. The MFI focuses on lending to SMEs, motivated by the idea that commercial enterprises are the backbone of the country’s economy. Mitrata’s promise is to provide rural women with accessible, transparent and appropriate financial and non-financial services to facilitate their economic empowerment.
The Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation has granted a first loan to Mitrata, for an amount in local currency equivalent to 1.5 million euros over a period of four years. To date, the MFI manages a portfolio of 27 million Euros and has 109,000 clients, 100% of whom are women. 23% of them take out their very first loan.
The Foundation also made a first financing of an amount equivalent to 2M euros from the Indian microfinance institution Light.
Light’s goal is to develop financial products and deploy technology in an innovative way to provide a reliable customer experience. Light Microfinance serves rural and peri-urban areas, with a particular focus on vulnerable women. To date, the institution has nearly 426,000 clients, 100% of whom are women. 84% of Light’s total clientele is in urban areas.
With these new loans, the Foundation now has 16 partners in South Asia, including 5 in India.
For more information on the Foundation’s partners, click here.