Launched by the Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation and Crédit Agricole SA in 2018, Solidarity Bankers is a skills-based volunteer program open to all Crédit Agricole Group employees, supporting microfinance institutions and impactful businesses supported by the Foundation. Discover the opinion piece by Stéphane Frénéat, UNEXO's Solidarity Banker, who traveled to Senegal to support La Laiterie du Berger, a social enterprise in which the Foundation is a shareholder.

Solidarity Banker…an incredible professional and personal adventure of riches!

The Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation has been a partner since 2010 of Laiterie du Berger (LDB), a social enterprise based in Senegal (Dakar and Richard Toll), created in 2006 by Bagoré Bathily. LDB fights poverty by building a local dairy sector (from production to distribution) in harmony with the environment, and thus promoting healthy eating for as many people as possible. It deploys a specific training program based on the "school farm" concept, located in Richard Toll (Mauritanian border), close to the production plant. This training allows many young Fulani village women to access the profession of livestock breeder and thus earn an income from the milk they produce and sell to the dairy. They thus acquire, among other things, financial independence.

The proposed mission consisted of supporting Laiterie du Berger and its manager in (i) structuring financing (mix of equity, private and public debt, hybrid financing) and (ii) considering the governance to be put in place in order to ensure the development of the company and its sustainability.

The profile sought and the content of the mission could correspond in every way to my professional skills, my experience, my passion for travel and the discovery of other cultures. It allowed me to combine my profession with my values and a certain quest for meaning... "Finance" in the service of solidarity and sharing.

It was therefore only natural that I submitted my application to the Foundation, with the support of my management and UNEXO. Once approved, we immediately prepared the mission with the Foundation and Bagoré teams. Together, we "reformulated" the mission's objectives and its schedule. Bagoré and the Foundation sent me all the necessary information so that I could familiarize myself with the Dairy's strategic plan and its economic and financial challenges.

Before the trip, the preparation phase is essential. It allows us to clearly validate everyone's expectations, clarify the objectives, the approach, and the expected deliverables. Thus, on Bagoré's suggestion, in collaboration with the Foundation's teams, we developed my work schedule for my entire stay: the people to meet, the sites to visit, the work and feedback sessions. 10 days is very (too) short...

Flight to Dakar and Richard Toll

The big day is here! I'm flying off, happy and excited to spend 12 days in the field in Senegal! I was leaving for a mission that aligned with my skills and knowledge in corporate finance, but without any specific knowledge of the microfinance and impact business sector, in a structure and cultural context different from my daily life.

Welcomed by Bagoré upon my arrival, the adventure begins! Located not far from the Dakar headquarters of Laiterie, I prepare for this busy week of meetings and working sessions with the LDB teams based in the capital.

After a weekend spent meeting the family shareholders of the Dairy to immerse myself in the company's shareholder context, Ortence, Executive Assistant, Jean, who will be leading me throughout the mission, and Bagoré welcome me to LDB's headquarters to begin our week of meetings with the various managers. The objective is to immerse myself in the company in order to fully understand the challenges and development strategy:

• Ouakam will show me in situ the two distribution channels for “Dolima” products (trademark of LDB products), namely the GMS and some of the 22,000 shops in the “informal” sector!
• Bakary will introduce me to Tiès, one of the company's logistics hubs, the real organizational and financial challenge for La Laiterie (respecting the cold chain in a tropical country, managing collections, etc.);
• Momar will present to me the plans for the new factory to be built, the technical, organizational and financial challenges of such a project in Senegal;
• Emma will share with me the multiple financial challenges that the company must face to finance its daily operations and find adequate financing for the various projects underway in a country where the banking and financial sector does not operate in the same way as the one we know here in Europe;
• Arona will show me around the factory based in Richard Toll. We will meet young Fulani villagers, students of the livestock training program initiated by the Dairy and future "entrepreneurs" supplying fresh milk to the Dairy. Moments of sharing and unforgettable emotions at the time of breaking the fast (we were during Ramadan) with these young girls of incredible courage and energy! Laughter, smiles... a clash of cultures!

Back in Dakar and armed with a clear vision of the company and its challenges, particularly financial ones, I spent the last two days discussing with Bagoré and Emma the two themes of my mission (structuring financing and governance) and writing the first drafts of deliverables (capitalization tables, governance model, financing plan, etc.) which will be adjusted upon my return to France and then shared with the Foundation team and Bagoré...

I returned to Nantes, happy to have had this experience. This mission brought me a lot, especially on a human level; I was able to discover another culture, have enriching exchanges and meet inspiring people. It is, certainly, a significant investment in terms of time and workload, but the mission is truly worth it. I will forever keep deep inside me the laughter and smiles of the students of the Richard Toll farm school, their sense of hospitality, and the immense hope they embody for future generations of this beautiful country that is Senegal.

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My thanks to Eric Campos, Vincent Brousseau, Céline Hyon-Naudin, Aurélie Béchara and Maria-Teresa Calvo of the Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation for their support throughout the mission and the trust they placed in me. A huge thank you to Bagoré, Jean, Ortence, Emma and the entire team at La Laiterie for their warm welcome, to Arona for introducing me to St Louis, Djoudj, Richard Toll and the farm school, to Florence Pelletier, Aurélie Cacciotti and Christian Bodenes of Crédit Agricole SA and to Jean-Luc Creach, Managing Director of UNEXO without whom I would not have been able to have this experience.

Small farms produce most of Africa's food. But they need to become more productive to accommodate a growing population.

ECLOF Kenya, a partner of the Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation since 2015, is a microfinance institution that offers financial and related non-financial services to micro, small and medium entrepreneurs, as part of their income-generating activities.

As part of its efforts to improve the quality of life of its clients, ECLOF operates an innovative agricultural value chain financing model to build the capacity of smallholder farmers and their cooperatives and factories. Through financial and technical training, loans, and connections with local dairy factories as trusted buyers, farmers earn a stable income and invest in high-yielding cows and better maintenance. On average, participating farmers triple their annual income from dairy production.

At the same time, this innovative structure reduces the costs and risks associated with working with ECLOF farmers: the repayment rate is well above 90 %. As of December 2021, ECLOF Kenya had disbursed dairy loans worth over USD 3 million to more than 2,200 farmers.

Kenya's new dairy film lets farmers themselves speak out to tell their stories.

Click here to watch the movie.

 

The Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation has granted three new loans to its partners in Eastern Europe. The Foundation's portfolio amounts to €14.2 million in this region, where it operates in six countries with nine partners.

In Montenegro, the Foundation granted a new loan to the microfinance institution Monte Credit for an amount of 600,000 euros. Founded in 2005, Monte Crédit is a microfinance institution whose mission is to empower rural families to create income-generating activities and jobs, unlocking economic potential so that communities prosper. The institution currently has more than 4,000 clients, including 54% women and 51% rural clients.

In Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Foundation granted a new loan to the microfinance institution Mikra for €1.9 million. Mikra is a microfinance institution that began operations in 1993. Its mission is to provide access to financial services responsibly to the country's poorest but economically active population, primarily women. The institution provides access to affordable, high-quality financial and support services to reduce poverty and encourage entrepreneurship. The institution serves nearly 15,000 clients, including 68% women and 58% clients in rural areas.

Finally, in Moldova, the microfinance institution Microinvest has been granted a new loan of €1.2 million. Microinvest, a partner of the Foundation since 2020, provides microcredit and business start-up assistance to small entrepreneurs in many regions of the country. 70,% of the institution's portfolio corresponds to loans granted to private entrepreneurs living in rural areas of this landlocked country between Ukraine and Romania. To date, Microinvest has approximately 37,000 clients, including 41% women.

More information about our partners here.

Sumac Microfinance Bank, a partner of the Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation, has been recognized with four different awards at the 2022 Think Business Banking Awards, a strong signal of the bank's steady growth in recent years.

Sumac emerged victorious in the Agriculture and Livestock Finance [microfinance banking sector] category for the third time, having previously won the award in 2019 and 2021. The bank was also declared 2nd runner-up for Best Microfinance Bank in Kenya. This is the first time Sumac has received this award. Two other awards were also presented for Most Efficient Microfinance Bank and Fastest Growing Microfinance Bank in Kenya. Sumac came second in both categories.

” We are absolutely delighted with these awards ", said Eva Wambui Muchina, head of business development at the bank, during the awards ceremony. This demonstrates the trust our clients place in us. From this perspective, we can only improve every day as we enhance our service delivery to our clients. We dedicate this award to all our shareholders, the board of directors, management, and staff, and most importantly, to our clients who have made us number one. We thank you all. “.

Over the years, Sumac Microfinance Bank Ltd has developed a wide range of products including various accounts, loan products, forex, trade finance, and bancassurance. In 2018, Sumac was recognized as the second fastest-growing microfinance bank in Kenya at the Annual Think Business Banking Awards.

In 2019, Sumac Microfinance Bank Ltd was recognized as the best microfinance bank for agriculture and livestock financing, while in 2021, Sumac was recognized as the most efficient microfinance bank in the country, while remaining at the top in agriculture and livestock financing.

More information about Sumac here.

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Source: SUMAC website

 

The Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation is continuing its financing in West Africa with an initial loan in local currency equivalent to one million euros granted to the microfinance institution Vision Fund Senegal, over a period of three years.

Vision Fund Senegal is a microfinance institution established by World Vision International and whose mission is to facilitate access to a conventional financial system for rural and vulnerable populations, access to local financial services, the opportunity to launch or develop income-generating activities and, in general, the possibility of improving their living conditions. Vision Fund Senegal primarily targets women microentrepreneurs, using the group lending methodology. To date, the institution has nearly 40,000 clients, including 95 women and 86 rural clients, and manages a portfolio of €9 million.

For more information on the organizations supported by the Foundation, click here.