MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Georgia’s Lazika, Tajikistan’s Humo Each Borrow $1.5m from Grameen Credit Agricole Foundation for Microfinance Lending

The Grameen Credit Agricole (GCA) Foundation, whose head office is in Luxembourg, recently informed MicroCapital that it is disbursing three-year loans of approximately USD 1.5 million each to microfinance institutions Lazika Capital of Georgia and Humo of Tajikistan.

Lazika is a non-banking institution that provides financial services to individuals with low and middle incomes for purposes including trade, agriculture and consumption. Its growth is focused on rural areas as well as small and medium-sized enterprises. As of 2016, Lazika reports to the US-based nonprofit Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX) total assets of USD 11 million and a gross loan portfolio of USD 7.7 million outstanding to 6,800 borrowers served via 16 offices. While the institution was founded by the NGO Oxfam Great Britain in 2000, the two organizations have not been connected formally since 2014.

Humo describes its mission as “providing quality, affordable financial services to the rural population, as well as to promote the development of small and medium-sized businesses in poor areas of Tajikistan.” It reports to MIX total assets of USD 28 million, a gross loan portfolio of USD 23 million outstanding to 33,000 borrowers, and USD 3 million in deposits held for 600 customers, whom it serves at 20 offices as of 2016.

The 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 December 2017, GCAF had commitments of EUR 64 million (USD 79 million) outstanding to 69 partners in 28 countries in Africa and Eurasia. Its partners serve 3 million customers, of whom 76 percent are women and 81 percent live in rural areas.

Sources and Additional Resources

Direct contact with the Grameen Credit Agricole Foundation and Oxfam Great Britain

MIX profile on Lazika
https://www.themix.org/mixmarket/profiles/lazika-capital

LinkedIn profile on Lazika
https://www.linkedin.com/company/jsc-mfo-lazika-capital-/

MIX profile on Humo
https://www.themix.org/mixmarket/profiles/mlo-humo

The Role of Credit Services in Alleviating the Poverty of Small-scale Farmers: Case Studies from the Development Programmes of Oxfam GB in Armenia and Georgia
https://www.brookes.ac.uk/uploadedFiles/Faculty_of_Technology,_Design_and_Environment/School_of_Architecture/Site_assets/Documents/Nigel-Thorne-dissertation.pdf

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