The Foundation publishes its 2018 Integrated Report

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© Didier Gentilhomme

The Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation has published its 2018 Integrated Report, which highlights key moments, figures, and projects developed with its partners. 2018 was an important year for the Foundation. It marked the Foundation's 10th anniversary with several commemorative events celebrated alongside its partners and founders, Crédit Agricole and Professor Yunus, Nobel Peace Prize winner and founder of the Grameen Trust. Ten years later, the Foundation has positioned itself as a recognized player in the inclusive finance sector and is strengthening its efforts to contribute to the fight against poverty.

2018 was also a year of growth. As of December 31, 2018, the Foundation managed €73 million in outstanding loans and supported more than 70 partners in 34 countries in Africa, Asia, and Europe. At the heart of its objectives, the Foundation promotes women's entrepreneurship and rural economies through the institutions it supports: 751,300 microcredit beneficiaries are women, and 801,300 live in rural areas.

2018 was also a strong year for partnerships. Several projects were launched with the Crédit Agricole Group: the development of cooperation schemes with the Group's international entities, the launch of FIR, the Group's first microfinance fund, and the establishment of "Solidarity Banker," a skills volunteer program open to all Group employees on behalf of the Foundation's partners.

2018 was also the year of preparation of the Foundation's 2019-2022 Strategic Plan, which confirms the Foundation's commitment to strengthening the microfinance sector, developing rural economies and promoting impact finance.

To download the 2018 Integrated Report, click here.

 

The Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation publishes its 2019-2022 strategic plan

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© Didier Gentilhomme

The publication of the 2019-2022 Strategic Plan anchors the Foundation's positioning around three priority areas: consolidating our expertise and our offering in favor of microfinance, strengthening the resilience of rural economies and promoting social impact in the financial sector.

Created in 2008 by the joint initiative of Crédit Agricole SA executives and the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize winner and founder of the Grameen Trust, Professor Muhammad Yunus, the Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation is committed to promoting microfinance and social impact entrepreneurship. With more than €200 million in financing granted in loans and investments, a presence in some forty countries and a network of more than 100 partners supported since its inception, the Foundation represents for the Crédit Agricole Group a unique specialist center in the field of inclusive finance in emerging countries.

Over the past ten years, the Foundation has acquired solid experience in financing microfinance institutions and promoting rural economic development. It has developed several projects with Crédit Agricole Group entities and Regional Banks: through cooperation schemes with the Group's international entities, a skills volunteer program, and a social impact investment fund, the Foundation has been able to strengthen its action and multiply its impact.

To address the challenges ahead and make a positive contribution, the Foundation's team developed the 2019-2022 strategic plan in 2018 with the help of the Board of Directors and in consultation with external partners and stakeholders. The three pillars proposed in the strategic plan (strengthening support for MFIs, developing the resilience of rural economies, and promoting social impact in the financial sector) are based on the Foundation's strengths and strategic axes that aim to strengthen its positioning, increase its impact, and balance its business model.

To discover the 2019-2022 strategic plan, click here.

 

Solidarity Bankers Missions in Senegal, Cambodia and Kenya

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© Philippe Lissac

Solidarity Banker is a new type of volunteer mission abroad offered to Group employees on behalf of microfinance institutions or social impact companies that are partners of the Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation. Three missions are available: one "digital" in Senegal, one "HR/management" in Cambodia, and one "strategy" in Kenya.

The missions to be filled

A "digital" mission for Kossam in Senegal is planned for June-July 2019. Kossam is a social enterprise whose mission is to develop and establish an inclusive and sustainable dairy sector around Richard Toll, in northern Senegal. To achieve this, Kossam collects milk from 450 local farmers, provides them with marketing services, and provides advice and training. The Solidarity Banker will be responsible for supporting Kossam in the deployment of a digital application, "commcare collection."

An HR/management mission is planned for the second quarter of 2019 to support Cirque Phare (PPSE) in Cambodia. PPSE provides employment opportunities for Cambodian artists and sustains the country's arts sector. PPSE has now entered a growth phase and requires strengthening certain aspects of its management, particularly in terms of strategy, finance, and human resources. The Solidarity Banker will be responsible for proposing monitoring tools and making recommendations on the organizational structure.

A strategy mission for ACRE Africa in Kenya will take place in the second/third quarter of 2019. Based in Kenya, but also present in Tanzania and Rwanda, ACRE Africa offers crop insurance services to smallholder farmers. ACRE decided in 2018 to diversify its activities to offer consulting services and to change its business model, moving from a B to C to a B to B model. The Solidarity Banker will be responsible for analyzing the organization's new strategy and evaluating its business model.

How to apply?

– Go to the CA Solidaires website “Find your mission”
– Enter “Grameen Foundation” in the search bar. All Solidarity Leave offers will appear!
– Click on the offer of your choice, you will find all the information necessary for your application.

More information: carolina.herrera@credit-agricole-sa.fr

Inclusive Finance at Harvard Business School

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By Hélène Keraudren Baube, Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation

© Harvard Business School

Led by Harvard Business School and ACCION, the Strategic Leadership in Inclusive Finance Program is an intensive five-day course designed to reflect on the sector's progress and challenges. This year, Hélène Keraudren-Baube, Administrative and Financial Director of the Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation, had the opportunity to participate thanks to a scholarship awarded by InFiNe Luxembourg. Here's a look back at this immersive week.

There were around sixty of us participants, from all continents and, above all, from varied backgrounds: microfinance practitioners, investors and donors, financial service providers, regulators, etc. The program is structured around a series of case studies and guided discussions, with a very large place given to digital finance – a theme that has now become essential for microfinance institutions.

Day 1: Financial inclusion in question

Our first working session aimed to introduce the topic of financial inclusion with case studies on Mastercard's public-private partnerships in South Africa and Nigeria. Mastercard introduced its cards into government programs to, in the South African case, help dematerialize the payment of government benefits, and in the Nigerian case, provide ID documents to people who did not have them. However, in South Africa, most customers continue to prefer cash and see no real benefit from having a card. In Nigeria, very few people have sought out ID cards, as the process of obtaining them was quite cumbersome and tedious. We thus come to see that pushing technology does not lead to financial inclusion: for inclusion to be effective, solutions must be tailored to end users.

Day 2: Changes in the microfinance sector

Our second day of work focused on the changes we are observing in the traditional microfinance sector. In some markets, such as Peru, we are seeing a shift towards mergers and acquisitions between microfinance institutions. In others, such as Bolivia, we are seeing microfinance institutions having to adapt to regulatory changes. More recently, we are seeing the arrival of digitalization as a new phenomenon to which MFIs must adapt: how is technology affecting internal processes, product distribution, payments, and credit scoring? It was an interesting discussion that also raised other questions: Are client needs still a priority? Is client interaction preserved?

Day 3: What are the prospects for fintechs?

We continued our training with another series of cases on the arrival of Fintechs on the landscape. We studied an Indian system, where mobile payment providers are growing so much that they have replaced cash in many daily transactions. The corollary is that, in doing so, these operators are collecting masses of data on their customers, leading us to ask ourselves: while creating a digital footprint may seem like a good thing, how can we ensure the responsible use and processing of customer data? In China, we examined a peer-to-peer platform created to allow individuals to finance micro-entrepreneurs. The platform managed to grow very quickly and reach millions of people, going far beyond its initial model. How should we regulate such platforms, which have proliferated in China in recent years?

Fintechs are therefore emerging as disruptors of inclusive finance because they create unprecedented opportunities. They are changing the ecosystem and are capable of rapid evolution, but if we want Fintechs to be part of financial inclusion, we must place customers at the center of our concerns.

The detailed report by Hélène Keraudren Baube is available on the InFiNe Luxembourg website.

[Webinar] What are the profitability levels for microfinance?

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© Didier Gentilhomme

On April 9, Philippe Guichandut, Director of Inclusive Finance Development at the Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation, participated in a webinar organized by Convergences and FinDev Gateway. The goal of this webinar was to reflect on the profitability of microfinance, focusing on three key issues: Why invest in microfinance? What balance should be struck between financial profitability and social performance? How can a business model be developed to reconcile dual profitability?

Although an essential requirement, the notion of profitability is nevertheless complex to grasp in a sector like microfinance, whose raison d'être is social impact. Thus, must microfinance necessarily be profitable? If so, can it be so while remaining socially responsible? Can it remain faithful to its aspirations and contribute, through financial inclusion, to lifting 1.7 billion people worldwide without access to banking services out of poverty? Between reasonable interest rates and sufficient profitability, what balance can microfinance institutions strike? What resources are available to finance the development of the microfinance sector?

This is what the various guest speakers attempted to answer. Also present alongside Philippe Guichandut were Gabriela Erice Garcia, Senior Microfinance Officer at the European Microfinance Platform (e-MFP), and Frédéric Mille, Investment Director at Advans International.

The Foundation and the EIB join forces to promote microfinance in Africa

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© FGCA

On April 1, the Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation and the European Investment Bank (EIB) held a roundtable discussion in Paris on the topic of developing rural economies and strengthening microfinance in Africa through the EIB. Representatives of both institutions shared a common goal: promoting a more sustainable and inclusive economy.

Following the EIB's granting of a €12 million loan equivalent in CFA francs to the Foundation to support microfinance in West Africa, this roundtable also provided an opportunity to discuss issues related to the development of rural areas in Africa. Several guests gathered to discuss rural microfinance, agriculture, gender, and climate change.

For the Foundation, recognition of expertise in microfinance

As Jérôme Brunel, Foundation Administrator and General Secretary of Crédit Agricole SA, recalled in his opening speech, the Foundation has lent more than four times its capital in the space of 10 years, representing €200 million in financing, for a presence in around thirty countries and more than 100 partners supported since 2008. At the end of 2018, the Foundation recorded an outstanding amount of €76 million and supported 75 partners in 35 countries. After excellent results in 2018, this new financing will therefore allow the Foundation to expand its action in Africa in the field of microfinance and support for social entrepreneurship. "With this financing granted to the Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation, the European Investment Bank confirms its commitment to financial inclusion in West Africa alongside a committed player that has just celebrated its 10th anniversary," said Ambroise Fayolle, Vice-President of the EIB.

Mamadou Lamine Gueye, Managing Director of Caurie Microfinance, a Senegalese microfinance institution partnering with the Foundation and beneficiary of the EIB loan, and Soukeyna Ndiaye Bâ, Managing Director of the INAFI International Foundation and administrator of the Foundation, spoke of the importance of intermediaries such as the Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation, whose positioning allows it to finance small microfinance institutions that would otherwise not be eligible for funding from major donors. Both agreed to recognize the role of the Foundation and other donors in developing the microfinance sector on the continent, thereby providing opportunities for African youth.

Two institutions have already benefited from the EIB loan to the Foundation: Caurie Microfinance, whose mission is the social and economic empowerment of poor microentrepreneurs in Senegal, primarily women; and PAMF BF, which offers microcredits to finance agricultural and economic activities such as market gardening and grain production in Burkina Faso. These two institutions alone represent more than 110,000 active borrowers, including 79,87% women.

Africa, a priority target for the Foundation

Sub-Saharan Africa accounts for approximately 301,000 million of the Foundation's funding. The Foundation focuses its efforts there on behalf of rural populations, with the aim of strengthening the resilience of the agricultural sector. "The Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation is now present in a dozen African countries," emphasized Jean-Marie Sander, President of the Foundation. For Eric Campos, General Delegate of the Foundation, "working on agriculture means working on the future of Africa. We must unleash the development of products adapted to the rural world: today, agriculture represents 601,000 million of the continent's workforce. Yet farmers represent only 31,000 million of bank exhibitors!"

In line with the Foundation's work, microfinance is a fundamental pillar of value creation in Africa. This is also what two of our speakers, Flora Helard and Mathilde Thonon, students at Sciences Po Paris and co-founders of In-Venture, observed on the ground. They spent a year in West Africa and Southeast Asia meeting those who find solutions to their communities' social and environmental problems in finance. In particular, they met with two of the Foundation's partner MFIs in Benin: RENACA and ACFB. Their enthusiasm reflects the performance of a dynamic sector that attracts the young entrepreneurs of tomorrow.

The Foundation makes five investments in Africa

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© Didier Gentilhomme

During the first quarter of 2019, the Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation intensified its presence with its African partners by granting five new financings, notably in the form of senior loans. As of the end of March 2019, it had 40 partners in Sub-Saharan Africa, representing 42% of the total outstanding amount.

The Foundation thus granted, as part of the African Facility program, a local currency loan equivalent to €800,000 to the microfinance institution Eclof Kenya, which offers financial and non-financial services to micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises in the country, while actively promoting savings. To date, the institution, which finances 58% of women, has more than 30,000 clients, 60% in rural areas.

Also in East Africa, the Foundation also granted a new loan in local currency equivalent to €1 million to UGAFODE, a Ugandan microfinance institution whose primary mission is to provide its clients with affordable primary financial services. The institution currently has 17,300 clients, including nearly 201,000 women and approximately 801,000 rural clients.

In West Africa, the Foundation granted a new loan to the Togolese microfinance institution Coopec Sifa for €305,000 in local currency. Coopec Sifa, which is financed under the African Facility, is a microfinance institution that offers small loans to its nearly 38,000 clients, primarily women (86%) in the north of the country.

In addition, ACEP Burkina was also granted a new loan of €2.3 million in CFA francs. This microfinance institution, a partner of the Foundation since 2016, specializes in financing microenterprises and very small businesses in urban centers and inner suburbs. It currently has 12,300 clients, including 20% women.

Finally, in Senegal, the Foundation strengthened its partnership with Laiterie du Berger, in which it has been a shareholder since 2010, by granting a loan in the form of a shareholder current account, for an amount in CFA francs equivalent to 229,000 euros. Laiterie du Berger is a social enterprise that recycles milk collected from Fulani herders in the north of the country, transforming it into yogurts and other dairy products sold under the Dolima brand.

To learn more about the Foundation's partners, click here.

EIB grants €12 million loan to Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation

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© EIB

The Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation has received a €12 million loan from the European Investment Bank (EIB) equivalent in CFA francs to support the development of microfinance in West Africa. This funding in local currency is a true recognition for the Foundation, which will be able to expand its presence in Africa.

The EIB, a committed player in microfinance

The EIB has extensive experience in developing microfinance. With over €1.3 billion committed since its first microfinance operations in 1992, it supports microfinance institutions and other sector stakeholders promoting inclusive and responsible finance. Under the Cotonou Agreement signed in 2000 between the European Union and the ACP (African, Caribbean, and Pacific) group of countries, the EIB launched a Microfinance Investment Facility to promote the private sector and combat poverty in West African countries. It was under this program that a €12 million loan, equivalent in CFA francs, was granted to the Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation.

The Foundation, an expert in the sector

As an investor, financier, technical assistance coordinator, and fund advisor, the Foundation has been supporting microfinance and social business institutions around the world for 10 years. Ten years later, it has raised more than €200 million in financing, a presence in some thirty countries, and more than 100 partners supported since its inception. In 2018, the Foundation managed €73 million in outstanding loans, and supported 75 partners in 35 countries. Following its successful results in 2018, this new funding will allow the Foundation to expand its work in Africa around microfinance and support for social entrepreneurship.

With more than 30% of financing in sub-Saharan Africa, the Foundation is positioning itself as a committed player in the fight against poverty on the continent. It focuses its action on rural populations to support financial inclusion and strengthen the resilience of the agricultural sector. This alliance between the EIB and the Foundation meets a common objective: to finance and promote a more sustainable and inclusive economy, in line with the Global Development Agenda by 2030. By providing this financing in CFA francs, the EIB allows the Foundation to continue supporting its partners in West Africa with loans in local currency.

Projects already underway

Two institutions will already benefit from this joint support: CAURIE MICROFINANCE in Senegal, which contributes sustainably to the social and economic empowerment of poor micro-entrepreneurs, primarily women; and PAM BF in Burkina Faso, which provides microcredit to finance agricultural and economic activities, such as market gardening and grain production. These two institutions have nearly 100,000 active borrowers between them.

“With this financing, the European Investment Bank confirms its commitment to financial inclusion in West Africa alongside a committed player that has just celebrated its 10th anniversary,” explained Ambroise Fayolle, Vice-President of the EIB. “The ability to finance this operation in local currency is a key element in reaching the most vulnerable populations without imposing foreign exchange risk on microfinance institutions. We particularly support the Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation in its efforts to promote women’s employment. It is these values upheld by Europe that we are supporting today.”

“The EIB loan allows us to multiply the Foundation’s action, which concentrates more than a third of its financing in sub-Saharan Africa and is present in a dozen African countries. Africa will continue to be a priority target for the Foundation, which will concentrate more than 30% of its financing in the continent by 2022. Thank you to the EIB for being part of the human and entrepreneurial adventure that Crédit Agricole and Professor Yunus began 10 years ago,” said Jean-Marie Sander, President of the Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation.

Philippe Guichandut spoke at the Bank of France

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©Philippe Lissac / Godong

From March 11 to 15, the Banque de France organized the seminar "Consumer Protection, Financial Inclusion and Education." The objective of this seminar was to highlight the missions carried out by a central bank in the areas of financial services consumer protection, financial inclusion, and financial education. These missions aim to improve consumer information, provide assistance in the event of difficulties, or prevent or resolve them. Generally carried out in accordance with laws and regulations specific to each country, these activities were compared with the approach adopted in this area by other central banks.

The topics covered were:

– Control of the commercial practices of banks and insurance companies,
– General presentation of the role of the Banque de France in the area of relations between individuals and the financial sphere and the legal protection provisions,
– The organization of relations between the banking sector and consumer organizations,
– Files of general interest managed by the Banque de France and concerning individuals,
– Public information and banking mediation in France,
– The treatment of household over-indebtedness,
– Financial inclusion and financial education.

Roundtable discussions were organized to allow for the exchange of information and experiences between participants, notably through short presentations on their national issues. Philippe Guichandut, Director of Inclusive Finance Development at the Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation, was invited to speak and present the Foundation's work, before discussing best practices with the other guests.

AMK Microfinance Receives Truelift Leader Milestone

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© Philippe Lissac

Truelift recognized the pro-poor performance of AMK Microfinance Institution Plc, a partner of the Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation in Cambodia, at the Leader Milestone. This brings to 33 the number of financial service providers recognized along the Truelift Pro-Poor Pathway and to seven the number recognized at the Leader Milestone, the most advanced of the four milestones. What all the recognized institutions have in common is their commitment to meeting the needs of people living in poverty. Their degree of adherence to the three pro-poor principles demonstrates how far these institutions have progressed toward managing to serve the poor.

AMK began as a Concern Worldwide program in the 1990s before becoming a full-fledged microfinance institution in 2004. The institution offers group (village bank) and individual loans, savings services, money transfers, health microinsurance, payment and payroll services, foreign exchange services, and international remittances. It employs more than 2,700 people in 150 offices and works with more than 3,700 independent agents across the country. AMK has more than 840,000 clients with a loan portfolio of more than $247 million and deposits of more than $146 million, making it one of the leading microfinance institutions in Cambodia.

For over 15 years, AMK has continued to grow by focusing on developing its financial products and services and investing in new technologies to meet customer demand. At the same time, AMK has remained committed to its social objectives, particularly poverty reduction, as evidenced by the results of the Truelift assessment conducted by M-CRIL in November 2018. By providing appropriate and sustainable microfinance services over the past 15 years, AMK has helped its clients and their families, particularly those living in remote areas, achieve significant positive changes.

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