The Grameen Crédit Agricole (GCA) Foundation, whose head office is in Luxembourg, has announced disbursing a loan of EUR 600,000 (USD 600,000) to the Montenegro-based microfinance institution (MFI) Monte Credit. Monte Credit focuses on providing agricultural loans to rural families and also offers loans for new businesses and to help ongoing enterprises that serve tourists to manage the seasonality of their income streams. Headquartered in the city of Podgorica, Monte Credit was founded in 2005 and has grown to serve 4,400 clients, of whom roughly 2,400 are women, with a loan portfolio of EUR 7.3 million (USD 7.3 million).
Crédit Agricole, a French retail bank, in partnership with Muhammad Yunus, the founder of Grameen Bank of Bangladesh, 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 2022, it manages assets valued at EUR 89 million (USD 89 million) outstanding to 75 partners in 36 countries in Africa and Eurasia. These partners’ beneficiaries are mainly women living in rural areas.
Crédit Agricole was established in 1885 to provide agricultural loans in France. As of December 2021, it serves 53 million people in 47 countries. It values its assets under management at EUR 2.6 trillion (USD 2.6 trillion) as of March 2022.
By Renata Samadova, Research Associate
Sources and Additional Resources
GCA Foundation press release
https://www.gca-foundation.org/en/media-room/#the-foundation-is-pursuing-its-activity-in-eastern-europe
Monte Credit homepage
http://montecredit.me
GCA Foundation profile on Monte Credit
https://www.gca-foundation.org/en/organisation/monte-credit-2
Previous MicroCapital article on GCA Foundation
https://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-brief-grameen-credit-agricole-foundation-lends-860k-to-salym-for-microfinance-in-kyrgyzstan/
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