Canada’s Développement international Desjardins (DiD) recently announced it has received funding from the Canadian government and Germany’s KfW (Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau) Development Bank to continue its work to strengthen Benin’s financial sector. The Canadian government awarded DiD a six-year contract to support 10 financial institutions and four related organizations in serving 500,000 additional clients by increasing internal capacity, boosting client financial literacy and improving supervision processes.
The funding from KfW is intended to allow DiD to support the Fédération Mutualiste des Caisses d’Épargne et de Crédit Agricole Mutuel du Bénin (FECECAM), a savings and credit cooperative specializing in serving rural areas. The program involves developing staff expertise, building a real-time credit monitoring system, “integrating responsible financing practices and environmental protection,” and improving the “range of products and services offered to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in rural areas, in particular those run by women.”
DiD provides technical support and investment for the community finance sector in Africa, Asia, Central and Eastern Europe, and Latin America and the Caribbean. It also operates the Partnership Fund and the Desjardins Fund for Inclusive Finance, which provide loans and investment capital to microfinance institutions and microfinance funds. Together, DiD’s partner microfinance institutions reach approximately 10.9 million families and entrepreneurs.
DiD is a unit of the Desjardins Group, a Canadian cooperative offering banking, insurance, securities and investment services. The group reports approximately CAD 248 billion (USD 185 billion) in assets as of December 2015.
KfW is a development bank in Germany. Its goals are to reduce poverty, make globalization “fair” and conserve natural resources. As of 2016, it reported total assets of EUR 507 billion (USD 554 billion).
By Phoebe Rorke, Research Associate
Sources and Additional Resources
Développement international Desjardins:
DID joins with German KfW Development Bank to support Benin’s rural economy
DID will maintain its contribution to strengthening the microfinance sector in Benin
KfW Development Bank:
2016 Annual Report
FECECAM:
Home Page
MicroCapital:
IFAD, DiD Renew Cooperation in Cameroon via Youth Agropastoral Entrepreneurship Promotion Program (PEA-Youth)
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