MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Chamroeun Borrowing $1.2m from Grameen Credit Agricole Foundation for Microfinance in Cambodia

The Grameen Credit Agricole (GCA) Foundation, whose head office is in Luxembourg, recently informed MicroCapital that it is lending USD 1.2 million to Chamroeun Microfinance. Chamroeun was launched in 2006 as a nonprofit by French NGO Entrepreneurs du Monde to deliver loans, savings, and microinsurance to poor people in the city of Phnom Penh. The institution has since converted into a for-profit entity, which is 20-percent owned by GCA Foundation.

As of October 2017, Chamroeun reported to the US-based nonprofit Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX) total assets of USD 12 million, a gross loan portfolio of USD 10 million disbursed to 24,000 borrowers, and total deposits of USD 240,000 held for approximately 70,000 depositors. The microbank operates 22 branches.

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 with the aim of creating a “better-shared economy.” As of September 2018, GCA Foundation has commitments of approximately EUR 77 million (USD 89 million) outstanding to 73 partners in 34 countries in Africa and Eurasia. Its partners serve 3.3 million customers, of whom 77 percent are women and 76 percent live in rural areas.

By Anuhya Tadepalli, Research Associate

Sources and Additional Resources

Direct contact with Grameen Credit Agricole Foundation

Chamroeun Microfinance
http://www.chamroeun.com/

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

Grameen Credit Agricole Foundation 2017 Annual Report
http://gca-foundation.org/data/grameen/media/documents/Grameen-Credit-Agricole-Foundation-Integrated-Annual-Report-2017-.pdf

Entrepreneurs du Monde
https://www.entrepreneursdumonde.org/

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