MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Grameen Credit Agricole Foundation Lending Microloan Foundation (MLF) $292k in Local Currency for Microfinance in Rural Malawi

The Grameen Credit Agricole (GCA) Foundation, whose head office is in Luxembourg, recently granted a loan in local currency approximately equivalent to USD 292,000 to the UK-based Microloan Foundation (MLF) to support its work in Malawi. MLF offers group loans and business training for women living in poverty. Among its strategies, due to low rates of literacy where it operates, is to employ “song, dance and picture cards… [to portray] the basic principles of business.” Most loans are for less than the equivalent of USD 80. To promote savings, MLF connects women with local banks.

As of 2018, MLF serves 24,000 female borrowers, all of whom live in rural areas, via 17 branches employing 105 people in Malawi. As of 2017, it reported to the US-based nonprofit Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX) total assets of USD 2.07 million and a gross loan portfolio of USD 1.08 million in the country. MLF affiliates also operate in Zambia and Zimbabwe.

GCA Foundation was founded in 2008 by Credit Agricole SA, a French retail bank, in partnership with Muhammad Yunus, the founder of the Grameen Bank of Bangladesh. The foundation provides funding and technical assistance to microfinance institutions and other social businesses. As of November 2018, GCA Foundation has commitments of approximately EUR 78 million (USD 89 million) outstanding to 76 partners in 35 countries in Africa and Eurasia. Its partners serve 3 million customers, of whom 75 percent are women and 79 percent live in rural areas.

By Tiannah Steele, Research Associate

Sources and Additional Resources

Direct contact with the Grameen Credit Agricole Foundation

Microloan Foundation background
https://www.microloanfoundation.org.uk/about-us/

MIX profile on Microloan Foundation Malawi
https://www.themix.org/mixmarket/profiles/microloan-foundation-malawi

MIX profile on Microloan Foundation Zambia
https://www.themix.org/mixmarket/countries-regions/zambia

Grameen Credit Agricole Foundation background
http://gca-foundation.org/the-foundation

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Grameen Credit Agricole Foundation Disburses 4-year Loan of $873k to CAURIE-MF for Microfinance in Senegal
https://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-brief-grameen-credit-agricole-foundation-disburses-4-year-loan-of-873k-to-caurie-mf-for-microfinance-in-senegal/

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