The Luxembourg-based Grameen Credit Agricole (GCA) Foundation has issued local-currency loans to three microfinance institutions (MFIs), approximately equivalent to the following amounts: USD 550,000 to ACEP Niger, an affiliate of the Agency for Private Enterprise Credit (ACEP) International; USD 540,000 to
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MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Grameen Credit Agricole Foundation Lends $770k to Microfinance Institution Oxus Kyrgyzstan
The Grameen Credit Agricole (GCA) Foundation, whose head office is in Luxembourg, has issued a loan in the local currency equivalent of USD 770,000 to Oxus Kyrgyzstan, a member of the France-based Oxus Group. Oxus Kyrgyzstan
SPECIAL REPORT: Grand Duchess Maria Teresa of Luxembourg on SAM, the Pan-African Conference on Financial Inclusion
This interview is part of a sponsored series on SAM (the French acronym for African Microfinance Week), a major conference dedicated to financial inclusion in Africa. The next SAM will take place October 21-25, 2019, in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso!
MicroCapital:
Your Highness has stated that microfinance “awakens the creative forces…enabling the poorest to regain their dignity and to bring about solutions for their own needs.” Is this why Your Highness is so involved in microfinance?
Grand Duchess Maria Teresa (pictured below): I would like to quote Professor Muhammad Yunus, who said that “Microcredit is, above all, a tool that unlocks human dreams and helps even the poorest and most unfortunate people on this planet achieve dignity, respect, and meaning in their lives.”
I have been involved in microfinance ever since I met Professor Yunus, because, through him, I discovered the importance of trusting the poorest of the poor, without conditions. By that I mean trusting in their honesty, in their creativity, in their capacity for hard work, and in their demand for dignity. It is important to push back against the idea that you are only trustworthy if you are backed up by finance, if you have collateral to put on the table. I would almost go so far as to say
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Grameen Credit Agricole Foundation Lends $970k to Microfinance Institution Salym Finance of Kyrgyzstan
The Grameen Credit Agricole (GCA) Foundation, whose head office is in Luxembourg, has issued a loan in local currency approximately equivalent to USD 970,000 to Salym Finance, a microfinance institution in Kyrgyzstan. Founded in 2007 with the brand name Credit Systems,
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation Loans $2.4m to Vision Fund Myanmar, Phare Performing Social Enterprise of Cambodia
The Luxembourg-based Grameen Crédit Agricole (GCA) Foundation recently issued loans of EUR 1.8 million (USD 2.0 million) to VisionFund Myanmar, a member of VisionFund International, and the equivalent of USD 367,000 to
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation, CA-CIB Loan $6.1m to Fusion Microfinance of India
The Grameen Crédit Agricole (GCA) Foundation and the Crédit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank (CA-CIB) recently established a loan guarantee scheme in the amount of EUR 5.5 million (USD 6.1 million) on behalf of Fusion Microfinance Limited, a microfinance institution based in northern India. This agreement is part of a program to secure approximately
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Producer of Dolima Dairy Products in Senegal, Laiterie de Berger, Borrows $260k from Grameen Credit Agricole Foundation
Laiterie de Berger, a dairy products producer in Senegal, has received a loan of EUR 229,000 (USD 260,000) in the form of a shareholder’s current account from the Grameen Credit Agricole (GCA) Foundation, whose head office is in Luxembourg. Laiterie de Berger purchases milk from herders
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Grameen Credit Agricole Foundation Lends $900k to ECLOF Kenya for Microfinance Lending
The Grameen Credit Agricole (GCA) Foundation, whose head office is in Luxembourg, has informed MicroCapital that it issued a loan in local currency approximately equivalent to USD 900,000 to ECLOF Kenya, a microfinance institution (MFI) providing “loans for micro enterprise and agriculture [as well as] health, water & sanitation, home improvement, green energy, education and
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Grameen Credit Agricole Foundation Lends $340k to Microfinance Institution COOPEC SIFA of Togo
The Luxembourg-based Grameen Credit Agricole (GCA) Foundation recently informed MicroCapital that it has disbursed a loan to Cooperative d’Epargne et de Credit (COOPEC) Soutien aux Initiatives de Femmes pour l’Autopromotion (SIFA) in local currency equivalent to USD 340,000. COOPEC SIFA is a microfinance institution (MFI) based in Dapaong, Togo, that offers savings and
MICROFINANCE BRIEF: UGAFODE of Uganda Borrows $1.1m in Local Currency from Grameen Credit Agricole Foundation for Microfinance
The Grameen Credit Agricole (GCA) Foundation, whose head office is in Luxembourg, recently granted a loan in local currency equivalent to USD 1.12 million to the Uganda Agency for Development Limited (UGAFODE) to support its provision of “affordable financial services” in Uganda. UGAFODE, which was established in 1994 as an NGO, became a
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: ACEP Burkina Borrows $2.6m from Grameen Credit Agricole Foundation for Microlending
ACEP Burkina, one of the five members of ACEP International, has received a loan approximately equivalent to EUR 2.3 million (USD 2.57 million) from the Grameen Credit Agricole (GCA) Foundation, whose head office is in Luxembourg, to support microlending in Burkina Faso. ACEP Burkina specializes in providing loans to micro- and small enterprises in urban and suburban areas. It was founded in 2012 as a partnership between Investisseurs & Partenaires (I&P),
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Grameen Credit Agricole Foundation Lends $2.2m to Mi-Bospo of Bosnia and Herzegovina for Microfinance Lending
The Grameen Credit Agricole (GCA) Foundation, whose head office is in Luxembourg, has informed MicroCapital that it issued a loan of EUR 2 million (USD 2.2 million) to Mi-Bospo, a microfinance institution (MFI) providing loans to micro- and small businesses in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH).
The precursor of Mi-Bospo was launched in 1996 as a program of the nonprofit Bosnian Council for Aid, which also is known as Bospo. Bospo had been formed in 1995 to support post-war reconstruction. Mi-Bospo became an independent entity in 2000.
As of 2019, Mi-Bospo operates in the agriculture, services, production and trade sectors with 32 offices, mainly in northeast BiH. Approximately 64 percent of
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Bereke Microfinance Organization of Kazakhstan Borrows $680k from Grameen Credit Agricole Foundation
Bereke Microfinance Organization, which is located in Kazakhstan, has received a loan in local currency approximately equivalent to USD 680,000 from the Grameen Credit Agricole (GCA) Foundation, whose head office is in Luxembourg, to expand its loan portfolio. Bereke seeks to increase its clients’ standard of living by lending for microenterprise, small enterprise, agriculture, housing and consumption. The institution was founded in 2003 to serve the northern, eastern and central regions of Kazakhstan. As of 2017,
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Grameen Credit Agricole Foundation Lends $776k to Oxus Kyrgyzstan for Microfinance Lending
The Grameen Credit Agricole (GCA) Foundation, whose head office is in Luxembourg, has informed MicroCapital that it issued a three-year loan in local currency approximately equivalent to USD 776,000 in favor of Oxus Kyrgyzstan, a microfinance institution (MFI) that was founded in 2006. ACTED, a French NGO formerly known as the Agency for Technical Cooperation and Development, holds 50.2 percent of the shares of Oxus Kyrgyzstan.
As of 2018, Oxus Kyrgyzstan had a gross loan portfolio of EUR 6.6 million (USD 7.5 million) and 7,000 active clients. The MFI lends mostly for agriculture, livestock breeding and
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Berendina Micro Investments of Sri Lanka Receives $393k Guarantee from Grameen Credit Agricole Foundation for Microfinance Lending
Berendina Micro Investments Company (BMIC) of Sri Lanka has secured a loan guarantee of EUR 375,000 (USD 426,000) from the Grameen Credit Agricole (GCA) Foundation, whose head office is in Luxembourg, allowing the microfinance institution to secure funding from an unidentified third party. BMIC will use the funding to boost its microlending in
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Grameen Credit Agricole Foundation Loans $815k to Baobab DRC for Microfinance in Democratic Republic of Congo
The Grameen Credit Agricole (GCA) Foundation, whose head office is in Luxembourg, has informed MicroCapital that it lent EUR 716,000 (USD 815,000) to Baobab DRC, a microfinance institution (MFI) operating in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The MFI is affiliated with Baobab, a France-based firm offering financial services in 10 countries. Baobab DRC
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: VisionFund DRC Borrows $1m from Grameen Credit Agricole Foundation for Rural Microenterprise Lending
VisionFund DRC, a microfinance institution (MFI) in the Democratic Republic of Congo, has secured a loan of approximately USD 1 million from the Grameen Credit Agricole (GCA) Foundation, whose head office is in Luxembourg. VisionFund DRC provides loans, savings and microinsurance to approximately 2,900
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Grameen Credit Agricole Foundation Disburses Local-currency Loan Worth $2.8m to AMK Microfinance Institution of Cambodia
The Grameen Credit Agricole (GCA) Foundation, whose head office is in Luxembourg, recently informed MicroCapital that it has lent the equivalent of EUR 2.5 million (USD 2.8 million) in local currency to AMK Microfinance Institution, which was founded in Cambodia in 2003 under