6.8M€
Wallet
47 688
Number of beneficiaries
68.8%
Women beneficiaries
49.5%
Rural beneficiaries
Zambia
Financial services
Funding granted
Loan of €1,000,000 *
(local currency equivalent)
Partner of the Foundation
since 2024
(1 loan granted)
*Outstanding at grant value
Context :
With a GDP of USD 25 billion in 2018, Zambia is the 4th largest economy in Southern Africa, behind South Africa, Angola, and Zimbabwe. Agriculture accounts for approximately 20 billion of the gross domestic product (GDP) and occupies a central place in the economy. It employs more than 50 billion of the workforce.
The company:
VisionFund Zambia is a Christian microfinance institution affiliated with World Vision, operating in Zambia with a clearly defined social mission. Founded to serve rural and peri-urban communities, the organization focuses on providing financial services to low-income entrepreneurs, particularly women and families with dependent children, in areas where World Vision conducts development programs.
Impact :
VisionFund Zambia's mission is to provide responsible financial services that empower parents to increase their income and create a secure future for their children. Through its locally tailored microfinance products, including agricultural loans, small business loans, and savings services, the institution helps improve the living conditions of vulnerable families and strengthen the economic resilience of rural Zambian communities, with a particular focus on child well-being.
Foundation grants first loan to MLF Zambia
The Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation is continuing its investments in East Africa and has just granted a first local currency loan equivalent to €250,000 to the microfinance institution MicroLoan Foundation Zambia (MLF Zambia), over a period of three years. This loan is made as part of the program of the African Facility which aims to strengthen small institutions.
MLF Zambia is a microfinance institution established in 2008. Its activities are overseen by the Microloan Foundation, which is headquartered in the United Kingdom. MLF-Z's main activity is to provide low-income women living in predominantly rural areas of Zambia's Eastern, Southern, and Central Provinces with short-term loans of 4 to 6 months for productive purposes. The institution lends exclusively to women.
With this loan, the Foundation now has an outstanding amount of 36.4 million euros in the sub-Saharan African region, or 38% of the outstanding amount monitored by the Foundation.
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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 40 countries.
For more information on the organizations supported by the Foundation, Click here.