In partnership with CA Indosuez Wealth (Asset Management) and CACEIS Bank, Luxembourg Branch, the Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation launched in September 2018 the FIR (Inclusive Finance in Rural Areas), a compartment of the Grameen Crédit Agricole Fund, the first microfinance fund of the Crédit Agricole group.

2018, launch of the FIR and first fundraising

For over 10 years, the Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation has been promoting financial inclusion and entrepreneurship by supporting microfinance institutions and social impact businesses. To strengthen its work and multiply its impact, the Foundation, in partnership with CA Indosuez Wealth (Asset Management) and CACEIS Bank, Luxembourg Branch, has launched the Compartment for Inclusive Finance in Rural Areas (FIR), which will enable Group entities to finance microfinance institutions in rural areas in Africa, Asia, and Europe.

The first two FIR fundraising rounds closed in 2018 saw the participation of fifteen Regional Funds (Alsace-Vosges, Centre-est, Centre-France, Champagne-Bourgogne, Charente-Périgord, Franche-Comté, Ille-et-Vilaine, Languedoc, Loire-Haute Loire, Martinique-Guyane, Normandie-Seine, Provence Côte-d'Azur, Réunion, Savoie and Sud Rhône Alpes), as well as those of Amundi and Crédit Agricole Assurance for an amount of close to 8 million euros.

2019, third fundraising and new perspectives

With the last fundraising closed on June 28, 2019, five new Regional Funds (Alpes Provence, Brie Picardie, Finistère, Centre-Ouest and Touraine Poitou) subscribed to the FIR for an amount of 1.6 million euros.

With these resources, the FIR will expand its investments in the form of loans to microfinance institutions operating primarily in Sub-Saharan Africa and South and Southeast Asia. As part of its mandate as advisor to the Fund, the Foundation identifies microfinance institutions, conducts due diligence on the ground, and, once this investigation work has been completed and validated by the CA Indosuez Wealth Investment Committee (Asset Management), also handles the follow-up process.

The loans are intended to refinance credits made to populations traditionally excluded from the banking sector living in rural areas, who constitute the main clientele of the targeted microfinance institutions.

Launched by the Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation and Crédit Agricole SA in June 2018, Solidarity Banker is a skills-based volunteer program open to all Crédit Agricole Group employees, supporting microfinance institutions and impact businesses supported by the Foundation. To celebrate its first year, the program was highlighted at the Circle of Friends Meeting No. 4, held on July 9 at the Crédit Agricole Campus in Montrouge.

Solidarity Banker: First Year Review

The meeting was rich in exchanges, beginning with the intervention of Jean-Marie Sander, President of the Foundation, and that of Eric Campos, General Delegate of the Foundation and CSR Director of Crédit Agricole SA. Recalling the history of the Foundation and the various challenges it faces, both underlined the importance of providing technical support to the Foundation's partners with mechanisms such as Solidarity Banker.

Carolina Herrera, the Foundation's Director of Communications and Partnerships, then presented the framework for the Solidarity Banker program. Through one- to two-week field missions, Crédit Agricole Group employees support the Foundation's partners in responding to the technical support needs expressed by beneficiary organizations. Since the program began, 12 missions have been launched: a remarkable success that demonstrates the strong commitment of both employees and the Group.

The next Solidarity Bankers

To demonstrate this, Violette Cubier and Celine Hyon-Naudin, investment officers at the Foundation, presented the upcoming missions alongside two Solidarity Bankers. Sarah Belbachir of Crédit Agricole SA and Caman Kamougue of Crédit Agricole CIB are the two Solidarity Bankers who, supported by the Group's entities, will travel this summer to Morocco and Haiti to support Al Karama, a microfinance institution, and Palmis Enèji, a social impact company, respectively. They presented the objectives of the missions and highlighted their desire to contribute to a project with a strong social impact, as well as personal and professional enrichment, as the main motivations for becoming Solidarity Bankers.

The meeting concluded with a presentation of the Foundation's 2019-2022 Strategic Plan by Hélène Keraudren-Baube, Administrative and Financial Director, who outlined our three strategic pillars: strengthening expertise in microfinance, developing the resilience of rural economies and promoting impact finance within the Group.

As part of a cooperation scheme, the Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation and Crédit du Maroc support Moroccan microfinance institutions that offer financial services to populations traditionally excluded from the traditional banking system.

An innovative partnership to support microfinance

The Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation and Crédit du Maroc are committed to the microfinance sector in Morocco. They are implementing an intervention plan that allows Crédit du Maroc to finance the microfinance institution in local currency with a guarantee from the Foundation, which also handles the monitoring process.

Founded in 2008 by Crédit Agricole executives and 2016 Nobel Peace Prize winner Professor Yunus, the Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation finances and supports more than 75 microfinance institutions and social enterprises in Africa, Asia, and Europe, with over €80 million in outstanding loans. Crédit du Maroc has been supporting the country's economic development by financing individual and corporate clients since 1929.

With this partnership, Crédit du Maroc is strengthening its role as a bank committed to inclusive finance. “The partnership with the Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation will allow us to better approach the ecosystem of very small businesses and income-generating activities, which represent half of the companies registered in the central commercial register in Morocco. It also underlines Crédit du Maroc's civic commitment as a socially responsible company by participating in financial inclusion,” said Baldoméro Valverde, Chairman of the Board of Crédit du Maroc.

For the Foundation, this is a great opportunity to multiply its impact by operating in Morocco for the first time. "Ten years after the Foundation's creation, we are building a new story with the Crédit Agricole Group. Alongside Crédit du Maroc, we will support Moroccan institutions to promote social entrepreneurship, financial inclusion, and agricultural development. It's a shared, tireless commitment to moving forward together toward a more shared economy," says Eric Campos, General Delegate of the Foundation and Director of CSR at Crédit Agricole SA.

Al Karama, the first institution funded

The Foundation approved a guarantee of €1.1 million on a loan of MAD 10.4 million granted by Crédit du Maroc to the Al Karama Foundation for Microfinance.

Cette institution, qui accorde des prêts pour le développement d’activités professionnelles, sert plus de 27 000 emprunteurs actifs, principalement des femmes (57% des clients) et gère un portefeuille de plus de 10 millions €. Elle a des opérations dans tout le pays grâce à un réseau de 84 agences et 314 employés.

En coopération avec Crédit du Maroc, Al Karama bénéficiera également d’une assistance technique pour améliorer ses systèmes de lutte contre le blanchiment d’argent et le financement du terrorisme (LAB-FT) dans le cadre du programme de volontariat de compétences « Banquier solidaire ». Ce dispositif, ouvert à tous les collaborateurs du groupe Crédit Agricole, a été lancé en 2018 par la Fondation Grameen Crédit Agricole et Crédit Agricole S.A. pour soutenir via des missions d’assistance technique les organisations financées par la Fondation (https://gca-foundation.org/banquier-solidaire).

By Chloé Chevrand & Evelyne Offroy, Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation

After a Solidarity Banker mission supporting the Laiterie du Berger, Jonathan Michaud is now Director of Kossam SDE, a project led by the dairy that aims to structure the dairy sector in northern Senegal. A spotlight on our discussions with this agricultural engineer from Crédit Agricole Franche-Comté, who was seconded for two years to support the development of this high-impact social project.

Structuring the dairy sector in Senegal

Driving territorial development in the Richard Toll dairy basin in northern Senegal is the shared ambition of Laiterie du Berger and its subsidiary Kossam SDE. Since its creation in 2005, Laiterie du Berger has established itself as a pioneering social enterprise in the country.

Today, La Laiterie has become the second-largest player in the Senegalese yogurt market and the leading national company processing local milk. It works with the Dagana Livestock Cooperative, which brings together 800 Fulani livestock farmers, employs 300 people, and produces 6,000 tons of yogurt each year. In early 2019, to consolidate the business and the dairy sector, La Laiterie du Berger and the Dagana Livestock Cooperative co-founded the social enterprise Kossam – Société de Développement de l'Elevage (Kossam SDE).

Kossam SDE aims to structure and strengthen the dairy sector by providing local services (livestock feed, fodder, etc.) and training and advice to local farmers. The company is developing a "mini-farm" model currently in the pilot phase (15 units in operation) and aims to establish 100 mini-farms by 2022 (more information on the project here).

Young people, actors of development

Youth play an important role at the heart of this development plan. In a context where youth employment is a real challenge in Senegal, Kossam is implementing an ambitious program to support young people in their professional development in dairy production.

Thus, the training offered to farmers is also open to their families. Indeed, the dairy's farmers are mainly families, or rather family organizations, made up of a 'can manager', male or female, behind whom an entire family structure works. "There is a real desire among farmers trained by Kossam to involve and empower their children in farm work. Kossam SDE plans to intensify training and support for farmers and local youth, on the technical aspects and economic management of the farm and the family," says Jonathan Michaud, Managing Director of Kossam SDE, an agricultural engineer from Crédit Agricole Franche Comté, seconded for two years to develop the project.

Furthermore, young people are not only involved in the livestock sector, but also in other aspects of the dairy industry. Many young people are elected as leaders of dairy hubs (which are local sections of the cooperative). While these positions were once reserved for senior managers, today the involvement of young people in agricultural and local leadership roles is one of the foundations of the sector's model as it is being structured.

Finally, youth employment is promoted in milk collection. Kossam SDE has thus enabled the creation of the "collector" profession, now practiced by young local people. Jonathan Michaud affirms that the development of milk collection and the generation of increasing income through dairy activity contribute greatly to the stabilization of the young population of the Richard Toll dairy basin. In addition, the project has led to a change in the image of the dairy industry in the eyes of young people: for local populations, dairy production has become a rewarding, remunerative, and attractive activity for new generations.

With the increase in farm productivity, the creation of new professions around livestock farming will become essential (for example, the creation of professions such as livestock advisors and livestock technicians). As Jonathan Michaud points out, this is the logical continuation of the movement already initiated by the Laiterie du Berger for more than 10 years around dairy professionalization, which requires support, supervision, structures and therefore creates employment through and around dairy production.

With Kossam, the movement is strengthening, relying on training, entrepreneurship and the involvement of young people, bearers of innovations and key players in development in Senegal.