MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: ACEP Cameroon Borrows $2.2m in Local Currency from Grameen Credit Agricole Foundation to Support Micro-, Small Enterprises

The microfinance institution Agence de Crédit pour l’Entreprise Privée (ACEP) Cameroon has borrowed local currency approximately equivalent to USD 2.2 million from the Luxembourg-based Grameen Credit Agricole (GCA) Foundation. Created in 1999, ACEP Cameroon focuses on the development of micro- and small enterprises (MSEs) via deposit, loan, transfer, insurance and mobile banking services. Its loan offerings include products for farming, enterprise and other purposes. The institution’s microinsurance services range from health and life cover to vehicle insurance. ACEP Cameroon has a gross loan portfolio of EUR 33 million (USD 36 million), 24 agencies, and 15,000 clients – including 5,100 women and 4,200 who live in rural areas.

ACEP Group owns stakes in ACEP Burkina, ACEP Cameroun, ACEP Madagascar and ACEP Niger. As of 2021, these institutions employ 1,200 people, hold an aggregate gross loan portfolio of EUR 107 million (USD 116 million) and serve 148,000 customers – of whom 40 percent are women. ACEP Group was created by ACEP International, a private company whose ownership includes its co-founder Thierry Perreau; Investisseurs & Partenaires (I&P), a France-based investor in small and medium-sized enterprises in sub-Saharan Africa; and the government-owned BIO (Belgian Investment Company for Developing Countries).

Credit Agricole, a French retail bank, in partnership with Muhammad Yunus, the founder of Grameen Bank, established GCA Foundation in 2008. The organization seeks to reduce poverty by providing funding and technical assistance to microfinance institutions and other social businesses. As of December 2021, GCA Foundation has a portfolio of EUR 78 million (USD 88 million) outstanding to 81 partners in 37 countries in Africa and Eurasia. Approximately 81 percent of its investees’ clients live in rural areas, and 90 percent are women.

By Vighnesh Avadhanam, Research Associate

Sources and Additional Resources

GCA Foundation press release
https://www.gca-foundation.org/en/media-room/#the-foundation-grants-7-new-financings-in-subsaharan-africa

GCA Foundation profile on ACEP Cameroon
https://www.gca-foundation.org/en/organisation/7781-2/

ACEP Cameroun homepage
http://acep-cameroun.org/

ACEP Group homepage
https://groupacep.com/

I&P homepage
https://www.ietp.com/

BIO homepage
https://www.bio-invest.be/

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Grameen Credit Agricole Foundation Lends $2.2m in Local Currency to ACEP Burkina for On-lending to Micro-, Small, Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs)
https://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-brief-grameen-credit-agricole-foundation-lends-2-2m-in-local-currency-to-acep-burkina-for-on-lending-to-micro-small-medium-sized-enterprises-msmes/

Did you know that MicroCapital publishes the MicroCapital Monitor newspaper each month? Find out more at https://www.microcapital.org/products-page/.