MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: BNP Paribas Loans $4.2m to Annapurna of India for Microfinance Lending

France-based BNP Paribas recently informed MicroCapital that it has issued a two-year loan of INR 300 million (USD 4.2 million) to Annapurna Finance Private Limited, payable in quarterly installments. Annapurna, a microfinance institution based in the city of Bhubaneswar, India, was founded in 2009. It offers secured and unsecured loans to groups and individuals. Its menu of loan products includes offerings for households, people with disabilities, microentrepreneurs, and small and medium-size businesses. The loans are customized for purposes such as housing upgrades, solar equipment, dairy farming, agriculture and purchasing appliances. Annapurna has a gross loan portfolio of INR 30 billion (USD 418 million) outstanding to 1.5 million customers. Its 570 branch locations span 16 states.

BNP Paribas, which was formed when Banque Nationale de Paris (BNP) acquired a majority stake in Paribas in 1999, operates in 72 countries. As of December 2018, BNP Paribas had total assets of EUR 2.04 trillion (USD 2.29 trillion). As of August 2019, it has EUR 220 million (USD 246 million) invested in microfinance institutions, largely in India but also in 16 other low- and high-income countries. During its 30 years of lending to microfinance institutions, BNP Paribas has issued debt totaling EUR 900 million (USD 990 million) reaching 1.8 million women and 200,000 men.

Sources and Additional Resources

Information provided directly from BNP Paribas to MicroCapital

Annapurna homepage
https://annapurnafinance.in/

Annapurna annual report
https://annapurnafinance.in/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Annual-Report-2019.pdf

BNP Paribas homepage
https://group.bnpparibas

BNP Paribas financials
https://invest.bnpparibas.com/en/consolidated-financial-statements

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