Crédit Agricole CIB and the Foundation support access to energy in Ivory Coast

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© Philippe Lissac

After several months of work, a pilot securitization project initiated by Crédit Agricole CIB and the Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation has been launched in Côte d'Ivoire. It aims to combat energy poverty by financing the supply of off-grid individual solar equipment to primarily rural populations in Côte d'Ivoire.

A high-impact technological project

Access to energy is a major challenge in Africa: more than 620 million people lack access to electricity and continue to use battery-powered flashlights and kerosene lamps, despite the harmful effects on their health and the environment. This energy poverty particularly affects rural populations living in areas not served by electricity grids.

The financing of ZECI's (Zola EDF Cote d'Ivoire) "Solar Home Systems" business aims to address this issue by providing off-grid solar equipment in Côte d'Ivoire. ZECI is a company co-founded by EDF and Zola Electric that markets and maintains solar kits to meet the needs of rural populations not served by local electricity networks. This offer is proposed through 3-year installment sales contracts, with payments made via mobile money and staggered by the customer based on their available income. To support the company's development, several financial players have joined forces to set up financing in the form of securitization of receivables under equipment sales contracts to customers.

An innovative structure

To finance ZECI's development, a financing vehicle (NEoT CI) was created, which purchases ZECI's receivables and solar kits as contracts are signed. This vehicle is owned by NEoT Off-Grid Africa, a platform dedicated to investing in off-grid projects in Africa, owned by the infrastructure fund Meridiam, with Mitsubishi Corporation and EDF as co-shareholders, and managed by NEoT Capital.

Bankers committed to development

The financing of the vehicle (NEoT CI) was structured in the form of a securitization by Crédit Agricole CIB, Société Générale CIB and Société Générale Côte d'Ivoire (SGCI), with an equity share provided by NEoT Off-Grid Africa and a senior local currency loan of 11.80 billion XOF Francs (approximately 18 million euros) granted by SGCI with guarantees provided by the African Development Bank (AfDB) and Crédit Agricole CIB.

In addition to participating in the implementation and financing of the project, the Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation will also be responsible for monitoring the project's social and environmental performance. This funding will enable ZECI to strengthen its business model and increase its impact in rural areas of Côte d'Ivoire.

The Foundation and CA Egypt support a new partner

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The Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation, in partnership with Crédit Agricole Egypt, has just granted, for the first time, financing to the microfinance institution Tasaheel, in the form of a guarantee equivalent to 3 million euros allowing the institution to access a loan granted by CA Egypt.

Tasaheel for Microfinance Foundation (Tasaheel) is a Tier 2 microfinance institution established in 2015 as part of GB Auto's corporate responsibility program. Its mission is to effectively develop small businesses through the design and provision of loans to help improve the socioeconomic status of low-income families. Tasaheel aims to help low-income individuals generate higher returns to improve their standard of living, which in turn supports overall community development and economic growth. To date, the institution has nearly 400,000 clients, including 83% women. Less than 1% of its clientele are in rural areas.

With this new funding, the Foundation consolidates its presence in Egypt and strengthens its partnership with Crédit Agricole Egypt within the framework of the cooperation schemes established with the Crédit Agricole Group's International Proximity Bank (BPI).

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Created in 2008, under the joint leadership of Crédit Agricole SA's management and Professor Yunus, 2006 Nobel Peace Prize winner and founder of Grameen Bank, the Grameen Crédit Agricole SA Foundation is a multi-sector operator that contributes to the fight against poverty through financial inclusion and social impact entrepreneurship. As an investor, lender, technical assistance coordinator, and fund advisor, the Foundation supports microfinance institutions and social enterprises in nearly 40 countries.

The Foundation invests in Moldova for the first time

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© Didier Gentilhomme

For the first time, the Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation has invested in Moldova, with the microfinance institution Smart Credit, providing a local currency loan equivalent to €496,000 over a three-year period. Smart Credit is an MFI founded in 2010 by five local professionals, whose mission is to position itself as the best provider of microfinance services in the region, particularly for socially disadvantaged small entrepreneurs.

The institution offers loans according to the individual methodology and currently has nearly 3,000 active clients, including 54% women and 71% clients in rural areas.

With this investment, the Foundation strengthens its presence in the Eastern Europe and Central Asia region, where it already has 17 partners spread across eight countries. This region thus represents 21% of the Foundation's portfolio.

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Created in 2008, under the joint leadership of Crédit Agricole SA's management and Professor Yunus, 2006 Nobel Peace Prize winner and founder of Grameen Bank, the Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation is a multi-sector operator that contributes to the fight against poverty through financial inclusion and social impact entrepreneurship. As an investor, lender, technical assistance coordinator, and fund advisor, the Foundation supports microfinance institutions and social enterprises in nearly 40 countries.

The Foundation makes two new investments in sub-Saharan Africa

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©Philippe Lissac

The Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation is continuing its investments in sub-Saharan Africa, its priority area of intervention, with two new investments, including one with a new partner.

In Mali, the Foundation financed Baobab Mali (formerly Microcred), a Baobab Group entity, for the first time with a local currency loan equivalent to €2.5 million. Baobab Mali began its operational activities in 2013 in Bamako. It is a microfinance institution created at the initiative of a group of international partners eager to contribute to Mali's economic and social development. To qualify for loans, entrepreneurs must demonstrate one year of activity and six months of uninterrupted operations on their premises. To date, the institution has nearly 20,000 clients, including 46,000 women and approximately 35,000 clients in rural areas.

The Foundation also granted a new loan of €790,000 equivalent in local currency to the microfinance institution Bimas in Kenya. A partner of the Foundation since 2014, Bimas is a microenterprise development program (MED-P) established in 1992 under the auspices of PLAN Embu. Its objective was to provide training and credit to small businesses in the Gachoka sector of Mbeere district. The institution has continued to expand its activities targeting the unbanked population in the Embu region in order to contribute to sustained economic growth and employment in the rural sector, which will result in improved social well-being and increased income for the rural population in Kenya. To date, the institution has nearly 19,000 clients, including 65% women and 90% rural clients.

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First Foundation team seminar in 2020

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© FGCA

As part of the Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation team seminar held from January 13 to 17, the teams had the opportunity to discuss various areas of the 2019-2022 strategic plan and the levers of action to optimize the Foundation's action with the microfinance institutions and social impact businesses it supports.

More efficiency for more impact

During the week, the Foundation's employees were able to put into practice the discussions held during the previous team seminar in 2019 around the three axes of the Medium-Term Plan: consolidating the Foundation's expertise and offering in favor of microfinance, strengthening the resilience of rural economies and promoting social impact in the financial sector.

Several meetings were held to present the 2020 outlook and the action plan to improve the Foundation's effectiveness and impact. In particular, a thematic workshop focused on three key issues for the coming years: digital impact finance and the Foundation's positioning in this sector, environmental performance, and measuring the Foundation's impact on funded organizations and end beneficiaries.

A workshop was also held with representatives from Plastic Odyssey, a social enterprise supported by the Crédit Agricole group, whose crew will sail the seas for three years to combat plastic pollution in the oceans. The Foundation will in turn partner with Plastic Odyssey to support their project to develop small-scale plastic waste reprocessing units in Africa.

A treasure hunt at the Arts et Métiers Museum was the team-building activity of the week, with the participation of Crédit Agricole SA's CSR team. These rich moments of exchange and sharing will contribute to achieving the objectives of the Strategic Plan, alongside Crédit Agricole Group entities, technical and financial partners, and supported organizations.

La Laiterie du Berger and Kossam receive USD 5M from the Mastercard Foundation

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©Philippe Lissac

The Mastercard Foundation has just awarded Kossam a USD 5 million grant for the period 2019-2022 to enable Kossam and Laiterie du Berger to create 5,000 direct or indirect jobs in the Richard Toll region.

La Laiterie du Berger, the strength of African entrepreneurship

La Laiterie du Berger is an example of the power of entrepreneurship in Africa. The social enterprise was created in 2006 by Bagoré Bathily and a group of active shareholders, with the goal of promoting local dairy production. "90% of the milk consumed in Senegal is imported in powder form, while 30% of the population traditionally lives from livestock farming and can produce milk. This observation led to the creation of Laiterie du Berger," Bagoré Bathily tells us.

The dairy collects milk from Fulani herders in the Richard Toll area of northern Senegal to then produce dairy products using local, natural milk. The company works with 800 Fulani herders, employs 300 people, and produces 6,000 tons of yogurt each year. After 12 years of existence, with the support of the Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation and Crédit Agricole Franche-Comté, a second chapter has opened with the creation of a new subsidiary, Kossam SDE.

Kossam aims to structure the dairy sector in northern Senegal by promoting access to material resources for dairy production, providing training to farmers, and developing an innovative model of pilot "mini-farms." "More than 600 farming families have been impacted by the development of the local dairy sector, seeing their income increase by more than 50% between 2018 and 2019," says Jonathan Michaud, Director of Kossam, an agricultural engineer from Crédit Agricole Franche-Comté, who, after a "Solidarity Bankers" skills volunteer mission in 2018, left for two years to lead the project.

An unprecedented change of scale for the company

A new phase is about to begin for Laiterie du Berger and Kossam. Won over by Laiterie du Berger's social enterprise model, the Mastercard Foundation has just allocated a USD 5 million grant to Kossam for the period 2019-2022. The objective of this grant is to enable Kossam and Laiterie du Berger to create 5,000 direct or indirect jobs in the area. The allocated amount will be used, in particular, to increase milk collection to 4,000 tons and to promote the restructuring of the collection system. This financial support is particularly targeted at women, who are traditionally responsible for milk production and collection in Senegal.

This new project is called MéLiTeJi, the letters (M, L, T, J), which symbolically represent in Wolof milk (Meew), employment (Ligueey), success (Tekki) and women (Djiguen). This funding reinforces the company's objectives of developing livestock farming in a sustainable, responsible and social perspective and of building a sustainable Senegalese dairy sector, established on the basis of a modern and job-generating economy.

This grant is in itself a tremendous success that demonstrates the strength of this social enterprise model and the confidence in its potential for structuring the sector and creating jobs.

More information about La Laiterie du Berger here

Solidarity Bankers: a new mission to be filled in Bosnia-Herzegovina

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©Philippe Lissac

Launched by the Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation and Crédit Agricole SA, Solidarity Bankers is a skills-based volunteer program open to Group employees that supports microfinance institutions and impactful businesses. The program has a twofold objective: to enhance the skills of Crédit Agricole Group employees and to provide additional support to the Foundation's partner microfinance institutions and businesses. Through this program, the Crédit Agricole Group reaffirms its commitment to supporting employee solidarity initiatives.

What are Solidarity Bankers?

Volunteer missions abroad are offered to employees on behalf of microfinance institutions or social enterprises, partners of the Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation.

The missions are carried out through sponsorship or skills-based volunteering. Airfare and insurance are covered by Crédit Agricole SA. Any internal transportation costs, meals, and accommodation are paid by the beneficiary organization. The Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation will prepare and coordinate the mission.

Since the launch of the program in 2018, thirteen missions have been carried out, both in sponsorship and skills-based volunteering.

A mission to be filled!

A mission in the IT sector is available for Partner Microcredit Foundation, in Bosnia and Herzegovina, from mid-March to mid-May 2020.

Partner Microcredit Foundation is a non-profit microcredit organization located in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Founded by Mercy Corps in 1997 as an NGO, it became a microcredit foundation in 2000. It provides financial services to economically active populations who have limited or no access to financing to develop their businesses and improve their living conditions. The institution provides loans through a methodology of individual technical support and microcredit, primarily to micro-entrepreneurs, promotes the participation of women in the business world, and provides easier access to financial services in rural areas.

Mission objectives:

  • Assessment of existing IT infrastructure, organizational structure and applications used.
  • Development of guidelines for the future development of IT infrastructure and applications.
  • Recommendations for a 3-5 year IT investment plan and specific recommendations for 2020.

Contact

Carolina HERRERA
Director of Communications & Partnerships
carolina.herrera@credit-agricole-sa.fr

 

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