MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation Invests Local-currency Equivalent of $650k in Moldova’s Smart Credit

The Grameen Crédit Agricole (GCA) Foundation, a funder based in Luxembourg that promotes “financial inclusion and social impact entrepreneurship,” has granted local currency approximately equivalent to USD 650,000 to Smart Credit, a Moldovan microfinance institution. Founded in 2010, Smart Credit offers insurance products covering health, vehicles and business needs as well as loans for needs such as housing, business investment and consumption. As February 2022, the firm operates 10 locations, serving 3,300 people, of whom about half are women and 2,250 live in rural areas. Among the microlender’s investors is the Helenos fund of Belgium’s Inpulse Investment Manager SC. Smart Credit’s loan portfolio totals EUR 5.8 million (USD 6.6 million)

Credit Agricole, a French retail bank, in partnership with Muhammad Yunus, the founder of Grameen Bank, 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 December 2021, GCA Foundation has a portfolio of EUR 78 million (USD 88 million) outstanding to 81 partners in 37 countries in Africa and Eurasia. Approximately 81 percent of its investees’ clients live in rural areas, and 90 percent are women.

By Adhya Singh, Research Associate

Sources and Additional Resources

GCA Foundation press release
https://www.gca-foundation.org/en/media-room/#the-latest-funding-of-the-foundation-in-europe-and-central-asia

Smart Credit homepage
https://smartcredit.md

Inpulse homepage
https://www.inpulse.coop/

GCA Foundation homepage
https://www.gca-foundation.org/

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