Advans Côte d'Ivoire: the institution celebrates its 10th anniversary with a string of awards

/in /by

 

Advans Côte d'Ivoire celebrated its 10th anniversary on March 23, 2022, in Abidjan. The ceremony was attended by approximately 80 guests.

Founded in 2012, Advans Côte d'Ivoire, a partner of the Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation, currently operates through a network of 22 branches, employing over 650 people. The institution currently serves over 160,000 clients with outstanding loans of over 65 billion CFA francs.

True to the mission that has made it a success, Advans Côte d'Ivoire continues to help small businesses grow by providing sustainable access to simple and adaptable financial products and services. To achieve this, it relies on the use of innovative services, local distribution models, and the digitalization of its product offering.

For its innovative digital payment and savings solution for cocoa producers and cooperatives, Advans Côte d'Ivoire was awarded the 2018 European Microfinance Award for "Financial Inclusion through Technology." Named "Best Financial Institution for Credit Services" for the third consecutive year and "Best Financial Institution for Agricultural Finance Offerings" for the first time, the institution continues to garner awards with the African Consumer Label.

In ten years, Advans Côte d'Ivoire has been able to develop a wide range of products adapted to the realities and expectations of disadvantaged populations.

To learn more about Advans Côte d'Ivoire, click here.

Phare Ponleu Selpak: Cambodian circus show breaks Guinness world record

/in /by

In the face of the Covid crisis, the circus, seeking funding, came up with something truly creative to attract attention: putting on a show that could break the Guinness World Record. 

Phare Ponleu Selpak, a Cambodian non-profit arts school, set a Guinness World Record by staging a circus show that lasted 24 hours, 10 minutes, and 30 seconds in Battambang. The show took place between March 7 and 8, 2021, but the record was confirmed by Guinness World Records (GWR) in November.

Phare Ponleu Selpak (PPSA) is an organization founded by Cambodian refugees to help children overcome the trauma of war and to restore the country's culture and education after the Khmer Rouge genocide. The organization now supports the education of 800 disadvantaged children and trains hundreds more in the visual, musical, and performing arts to help lift hundreds of families out of poverty and keep Cambodian culture alive.

Over the past decade, PPSA has taken innovative steps to avoid aid dependence by establishing a grassroots animal-free circus and a tourist attraction that funded their rescue programs. This included the creation of Phare Performing Social Enterprise (PPSE), in which the Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation is a shareholder. This company is responsible for producing and distributing the circus performances while employing young performers from disadvantaged backgrounds trained by the NGO.

Faced with Covid-related restrictions that put an end to live performances, and therefore to artists' sources of income, PPSA sought alternative sources of income and came up with something truly creative to attract attention. An idea that drew on the same creativity and resilience that led to the creation of the association and that allowed it to break a world record and thus enter the Guinness Book of Records.

To learn more about the Phare Circus, click here.

In Moldova, the Foundation strengthens its support for Smart Credit

/in /by

© Philippe Lissac / Godong

In September, the Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation granted new financing in Eastern Europe, particularly in Moldova, where it is strengthening its support for the microfinance institution. Smart Credit.

The institution was thus granted a new loan in the amount of €500,000 in local currency, over a four-year period. Smart Credit is a microfinance institution whose objective is to help clients improve their living conditions, particularly socially disadvantaged small entrepreneurs. The institution currently has more than 3,000 active borrowers, including 54% women and 71% rural clients, and manages a portfolio of nearly €4 million.

To learn more about our partners, Click here.

Finance for inclusion: focus on impact investing on the occasion of the release of the film "Same Same but Different"

/in /by

On the occasion of the film's release "Same Same but different", directed by Tommy Pascal and filmed in Cambodia with Phare Performing Social Enterprise (PPSE), a social enterprise supported by the Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation and which employs young artists from disadvantaged backgrounds, Crédit Agricole SA and the Foundation organized a round table at the Grand Rex on the “Finance for inclusion: challenges and opportunities”.

Moderated by Vincent Brousseau, Director of Impact Financing at the Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation, the round table composed of Cyrille Langendorff (Phitrust), Florian Peudevin (Amundi) and Mathieu Cornieti (Impact Partners) offered insightful discussions. The speakers presented the impact investing sector in France, explained what patient investments are, and the risks and challenges of the sector. Punctuated with concrete examples of their activities, the discussions highlighted the importance of finance in achieving fairer and more equitable inclusion of vulnerable populations, both in France and abroad, as well as the importance of time in projects that can only be considered long-term.

“Take the time to support social innovations.” – Florian Peudevin

Time is a key concept in finance. Because it's linked to profitability, performance, and the clarity of their effects. Would moving quickly be a guarantee of success? Not when it comes to impact investing. To provide answers to major challenges, we must innovate and take the time to support these innovations. ", explains Florian Peudevin. Investing in a project with social impact means accepting that it will experience ups and downs and difficulties. We are in a long-term perspective. What we are adjusting is the level of risk we want to position ourselves on. », agrees Mathieu Cornieti. “ We don't desert in case of a problem " concludes Cyrille Langendorff.

Presented by Regis Wargnier, French director, President of PPS France, in the presence of Veronique Faujour, General Delegate of the Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation, PPSE's experience is a concrete example of what impact investing can represent for the inclusion of vulnerable populations, and in particular young people in difficulty. This support is all the more necessary in times of crisis such as that experienced during the Covid pandemic, which has undermined the financial situation of the company and, consequently, that of the artists and their families. The support of the Grameen Crédit 10Agricole Foundation and the Crédit Agricole SA Group was crucial in enabling the company to overcome this milestone and continue to offer us unique shows such as the one from which an excerpt was screened as an introduction to the round table.

Find the extract from the film “Same Same but different” here.

The entire film East available on the Qwest TV platform (by subscription).

THE FOUNDATION

OUR SOLUTIONS

SUPPORTED ORGANIZATIONS

Search Search

Newsletter