Agriculture remains a vital part of Kyrgyzstan’s economy and a refuge for industrial workers. It accounts for more than 38% of the country’s GDP. 25% of population live below the poverty line.
The Institution:
Salym Finance is a Tier 2 microfinance institution that was created in 2007 by four Kyrgyz entrepreneurs to support, develop activities and improve the standard of living of the population by creating financial conditions conducive to economic development.
Impact:
Salym Finance supports mainly people with limited income from rural areas or urban peripheries by offering various products: housing loans, consumer loans, agricultural loans and business loans.
Solidarity Bankers missions to be filled in Georgia, Kyrgyzstan and South Africa
Launched in June 2018 at the initiative of the Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation and Crédit Agricole SA, Solidarity Bankers is a skills volunteering programme aimed at all Crédit Agricole Group employees in favour of microfinance institutions and social impact businesses supported by the Foundation. Three new missions are to be filled in 2021 in Georgia, Kyrgyzstan and South Africa.
“Marketing Strategy” mission in Georgia
Lazika Capital, one of the leading microfinance institutions in Georgia. Established in 2000, Lazika provides financial services to low-income people, smallholder farmers and microentrepreneurs. The organisation operates through 18 branches, mainly in rural areas of Georgia (70% of active borrowers are rural).
The Solidarity Bankers mission aims to support Lazika in the development of a marketing plan for mid-2021-2022. If the health context allows it, the mission will be carried out in June or July 2021 in Georgia. If not, the mission will be postponed.
“Social and environmental performance” mission in Kyrgyzstan
Salym is a microfinance institution that provides affordable loans and deposits to support income-generating activities of low-income populations in Kyrgyzstan. The organisation currently has 23 branches across Kyrgyzstan and serves over 18,000 active borrowers, 52% of whom are women and 70% of whom live in rural areas.
A two-week Solidarity Bankers mission is planned to support Salym in managing its social and environmental performance. If the health context allows it, the mission will be carried out in September or October 2021 in Kyrgyzstan. If not, the mission can be carried out online.
“AML-CFT” mission in South Africa
SEF is a microfinance institution established in 1992 that provides financial and non-financial services to poor people in South Africa. The institution has 225,317 active borrowers (100% of women in living rural areas).
A Solidarity Bankers mission is to be filled to support SEF in the framing and training of its key employees on the risks associated with money laundering and the financing of terrorism. The field mission will take place in South Africa over a two-weeks period, if the sanitary conditions linked to Covid-19 allow it.
Two online missions are still available
A first “digital / IT” mission is available to support Smart Credit, a microfinance institution funded by the Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation in Moldova. The mission of the Solidarity Banker will be to help build the digital strategy of Smart Credit. A second “financial management” mission is to be filled in favour of FATEN, a microfinance institution located in Palestine. The Crédit Agricole expert will support FATEN in updating financial procedures, policies and tools. These missions will be carried out remotely at the rate of one day per week, for 15 weeks.
During the first half of 2019, the Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation funded three new partners in Africa and Central Asia.
It has thus granted a first loan in FCFA equivalent to € 1.5 million to Vital Finance in Benin, a microfinance institution founded in 1998. Launched as a microfinance project funded by USAID, Vital Finance has gained impressive experience in the field of microfinance. Its constant evolution in terms of both its activities and its profitability places it among one of the largest microfinance institutions in the country. The institution is mainly active in peri-urban areas with very active populations, economically viable but without access to traditional banks. To date, Vital Finance has 29,000 active borrowers, 66% of whom are women.
Also in the first semester, in Zambia, the Foundation provided a loan in local currency equivalent to € 1.5 million to the microfinance institution Entrepreneur Financial Center Zambia (EFC). It is the largest regulated microfinance institution in the country. EFC offers loans to individual businesses and loans for housing. It also offers deposit and savings products to its clients. The institution, established by CARE Zambia in 1996 as a microfinance project, aims to provide working capital solutions for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), with a focus on innovation customised products. To date, it has nearly 4,000 active borrowers, 44% of whom are women and 6% of whom are located in rural areas.
Finally, the Foundation also granted a first loan in local currency equivalent to € 890,000 to the microfinance institution Salym Finance in Kyrgyzstan. This institution, created in 2007 by four Kyrgyz entrepreneurs, aims to create the financial conditions to support and develop client activities and improve the standard of living of the population. Salym offers loans following the individual methodology. Currently, the institution has nearly 12,500 active borrowers, 53% of whom are women and 74% of whom are living in rural areas, and manages a portfolio of €16.5 million.
With these three new partners, at the end of August 2019 the Foundation supported 81 organisations in 38 countries.
The Smart Campaign is a global initiative to incorporate strong client protection principles into the financial inclusion industry. The Smart Campaign’s Client Protection Certification programme publicly recognizes those institutions providing financial services to low-income households whose standards of care uphold the Smart Campaign’s seven Client Protection Principles. These principles cover such important areas such as pricing, transparency, fair and respectful treatment and prevention of over-indebtedness.
The certification programme contains a rigorous set of standards against which institutions are evaluated by independent, third-party raters that are licensed by the Smart Campaign. The raters are established, specialized rating agencies with extensive experience, having analyzed hundreds of institutions to date.
In 2019, in addition to the action of Chamroeun, partner of the Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation since 2010, this initiative also publicly recognised the action of two other microfinance institutions, partners of the Foundation, as Client Protection Certified for meeting strong standards of client care: Musoni (Kenya) and Salym Finance (Kyrgyzstan).
These institutions join almost 120 others in over 40 countries that have been certified since the programme was launched in January 2013.
Created in 2008, under the joint impetus of the directors of Crédit Agricole S.A. and Professor Yunus, winner of the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize and founder of the Grameen Bank, the Grameen Crédit Agricole SA Foundation is a multi-business operator that contributes to the fight against poverty through financial inclusion and entrepreneurship with a social impact. As an investor, lender, technical assistance coordinator and fund advisor, the Foundation supports microfinance institutions and social enterprises in nearly 40 countries.
For further information about Grameen Credit Agricole Foundation partners, please click here..
