MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Grameen Credit Agricole Foundation Lends $1.1m in Local Currency to Asian Credit Fund for Housing, Enterprise Microfinance in Rural Kazakhstan

The Luxembourg-based Grameen Credit Agricole (GCA) Foundation has announced it lent local currency approximately equivalent to USD 1.1 million to the microfinance institution Asian Credit Fund (ACF) of Kazakhstan for a term of three years. Founded in 1997 by the US-based NGO Mercy Corps, ACF provides financial and non-financial services supporting rural development, small business, and home ownership. These services include group and individual loans – with and without collateral – as well as the provision of data on farming and other forms of business. Among its loan products is a home loan for energy-efficient upgrades that are paired with advisory services.

ACF has a gross portfolio of USD 19 million and serves 27,000 beneficiaries, of whom 70 percent are women and 93 percent live in rural zones. For the year 2020, the institution reported a net profit of KZT 370 million (USD 857,000), a return on assets of 4.5 percent, and a return on equity of 19 percent, ending the period with total assets of KZT 9.0 billion (USD 21 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 beneficiaries live in rural areas, and 90 percent are women.

By Vighnesh Avadhanam, 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

GCA Foundation profile on ACF
https://www.gca-foundation.org/en/organisation/asian-credit-fund-acf/

ACF homepage
https://asiancreditfund.com/

ACF annual report
https://asiancreditfund.com/en/annual-reports

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Grameen Credit Agricole Foundation Lends $700k to LAPO SL for Microlending to Women in Sierra Leone
https://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-brief-grameen-credit-agricole-foundation-lends-700k-to-lapo-sl-for-microlending-to-women-in-sierra-leone/

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