MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Grameen Credit Agricole Foundation Lends $2.2m in Local Currency to Advans, Premiere Agence de MicroFinance (PAMF) of Cote d’Ivoire

The Grameen Credit Agricole (GCA) Foundation, whose head office is in Luxembourg, recently informed MicroCapital that it is extending the following local-currency loans: the equivalent of USD 1.24 million to Advans Cote d’Ivoire, a unit of Luxembourg’s Advans SA, and the equivalent of USD 950,000 to Premiere Agence de MicroFinance (PAMF) Cote d’Ivoire, an affiliate of Switzerland’s Aga Khan Agency for Microfinance.

Founded in 2012, Advans Cote d’Ivoire has a gross loan portfolio of EUR 74 million (USD 92 million), client deposits of EUR 46 million (USD 57 million), and 79,000 clients served via 12 branches as of June 2017. Advans SA, which is active in 10 countries in Africa and Asia, describes its mission as to “build a model group of financial institutions which contribute to strengthening local businesses, creating and sustaining jobs and improving clients’ living standards in order to foster private sector-led economic and social development.…” Advans SA is a for-profit entity managed by Horus Development Finance, a French consultancy involved in rural finance as well as micro-, small and medium-sized enterprise.

Established in 2008, PAMF Cote d’Ivoire primarily provides deposit services and group loans to farmers, pastoralists and small businesses. About half of its loan portfolio is placed in rural areas, and about a third of its borrowers are women. PAMF Cote d’Ivoire reports to the US-based nonprofit Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX) total assets of USD 12 million, USD 11 million loaned to 19,000 clients, USD 3 million in deposits held for 23,000 clients and 6 branches as of 2017. The Aga Khan Agency for Microfinance is a unit of the Aga Khan Development Agency, which operates in 30 countries in sectors including health, education, architecture and music.

The GCA Foundation was founded in 2008 by Credit Agricole SA, a French retail bank, and Grameen Trust, a nonprofit microfinance organization affiliated with the Grameen Bank of Bangladesh. The foundation focuses on supporting organizations that prioritize rural development, transparency, consumer protection and serving women. As of December 2017, the GCA Foundation had outstanding loans of EUR 62 million (USD 76 million) and experience with 69 partners in 28 countries in Africa and Eurasia.

Sources and Additional Resources

Direct contact with the Grameen Credit Agricole Foundation

Advans SA
http://www.advansgroup.com/

Horus Development Finance
http://www.horus-df.com/

MIX profile on PAMF Cote d’Ivoire
https://www.themix.org/mixmarket/profiles/pamf-ci

Aga Khan Development Network
http://www.akdn.org/

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