The Grameen Credit Agricole (GCA) Foundation, whose head office is in Luxembourg, recently informed MicroCapital that it has issued three-year loans totaling the equivalent of USD 4.7 million to two microfinance institutions with ties to Sri Lanka.
LOLC Cambodia, which is owned by Sri Lanka’s LOLC Group, borrowed half of the total, denominated in US dollars. LOLC Cambodia was founded in 1994 as Thaneakea Phum (Cambodia) by US-based NGO Catholic Relief Services. The MFI has since been acquired by Sri Lanka’s LOLC Group, which is a member of Orix, a Japanese conglomerate. LOLC Group, whose name derives from “Lanka Orix Leasing Company,” has operations in a range of industries in Cambodia, Myanmar and Pakistan as well as Sri Lanka. As of 2016, LOLC Cambodia reports USD 255 million in total assets, a gross loan portfolio of USD 222 million and USD 19 million in total deposits.
VisionFund Lanka, which is is owned by UK-based NGO VisionFund, borrowed the same amount as LOLC Cambodia, denominated in euros. VisionFund offers microfinance in 32 countries for World Vision, a US-based Christian relief and development organization. VisionFund Lanka provides group loans to 82,000 rural women entrepreneurs and reports a loan portfolio of USD 24 million.
The GCA Foundation was founded in 2008 by Credit Agricole SA, a French retail bank, and Grameen Trust, a nonprofit microfinance organization affiliated with the Grameen Bank of Bangladesh. The foundation focuses on supporting organizations that prioritize rural development, transparency, consumer protection and serving women. As of December 2017, the GCA Foundation had outstanding loans of EUR 62 million (USD 76 million) and experience with 69 partners in 28 countries in Africa and Eurasia.
Sources and Additional Resources
Direct contact with the Grameen Credit Agricole Foundation
MicroCapital on LOLC Cambodia
https://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-brief-usaid-guarantee-15m-agricultural-lending-cambodias-amk-microfinance-institution-lolc-rma-financial-services/
VisionFund Lanka
http://www.visionfund.org/2354/where/asia-pacific/sri-lanka/about-us/
Do you know that MicroCapital publishes the MicroCapital Monitor newspaper each month? Find out more at http://www.microcapital.org/products-page/.
Similar Posts:
- MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: LOLC Buys 28% Equity Stake in Unguka Bank, Provider of Microfinance in Rwanda, from Incofin
- MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Verdant Capital Hybrid Fund Lending $9m to LOLC to Finance MSMEs in Africa
- MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation Loans $3.2m to Faten for Microfinance in Palestine
- MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Mi-Bospo of Bosnia and Herzegovina Borrowing $2.2m from Grameen Credit Agricole Foundation for Microfinance Lending
- MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Arnur Credit of Kazakhstan Borrows $3.3m from Grameen Crédit Agricole to Expand Access to Microfinance
