MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Grameen Credit Agricole Foundation Lends $3.7m to Assilassimé Solidarite of Togo, Agora Microfinance Zambia (AMZ)

The Grameen Credit Agricole (GCA) Foundation, whose head office is in Luxembourg, has announced its disbursal of local-currency loans to Togo-based Assilassimé Solidarite in an amount approximately equivalent to USD 2.5 million and Agora Microfinance Zambia (AMZ) in an amount approximately equivalent to USD 1.2 million.

Assilassimé is a nonprofit microfinance institution (MFI) that seeks to “provide sustainable access to social microfinance services adapted for people experiencing exclusion or extreme poverty.” It delivers savings, loans and training services to approximately 17,500 women and 1,700 men. As of December 2020, Assilassimé reported a loan book of EUR 2.9 million (USD 3.4 million) and client savings of EUR 1.7 million (USD 2 million).

Entrepreneurs du Monde, the parent organization of Assilassimé, is a French NGO that “supports the social and economic development of very deprived communities in Africa, Asia, Haiti and France.” As of December 2020, it reports total assets of EUR 4.8 million (USD 5.7 million) and approximately 114,000 clients, of whom 88 percent are women and 43 percent live in rural areas. The NGO is active in microenterprise, energy and agriculture in 11 low- and moderate-income countries.

AMZ is an MFI in Zambia that “aims to serve customers who have previously been excluded from the formal financial market, mainly because of their poverty or their place of residence.” It offers loans, insurance and mobile money services. AMZ has approximately 80,000 borrowers – mostly women – of whom 92 percent live in rural areas. As of December 2020, the MFI has total assets of ZMW 147 million (USD 7 million), an active loan portfolio of ZMW 117 million (USD 5.5 million), and a one-year return on equity of 11.5 percent.

Agora Microfinance, the parent company of AMZ, also owns Agora Microfinance India Limited (AMIL) and – during 2020 – sold its stake in AMK Microfinance Institution, a Cambodian entity formerly known as Angkor Microheranhvatho Kampuchea. Agora Microfinance is managed from offices in Mauritius, the Netherlands and the UK. As of December 2020, the entity reports total assets of USD 43 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 MFIs and other social businesses. As of August 2021, GCA Foundation has a portfolio of EUR 85 million (USD 99 million) outstanding to 87 partners in 37 countries in Africa and Eurasia. Approximately 85 percent of its investees’ clients live in rural areas, and 73 percent are women.

By Arin Atluri, Research Associate

Sources and Additional Resources

GCA Foundation press release
https://www.gca-foundation.org/en/media-room/#the-foundation-provides-four-new-financings-in-sub-saharan-africa

Assilassimé homepage
https://www.assilassime.org/

Assilassimé program summary
https://www.assilassime.org/fiche-programme/

AMZ homepage
https://www.amz.co.zm/

AMZ 2020 financials
https://12e26c1a-3b6e-448f-6964-dce78c2d6819.filesusr.com/ugd/d44b9f_a488f602c59740779a0ac40af76fcf52.pdf

Agora Microfinance homepage
https://agoramicrofinance.com/

Agora Microfinance 2020 financials
https://agoramicrofinance.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/AMNV-Annual-Accounts-2020.pdf

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

Entrepreneurs du Monde 2020 financials
https://www.entrepreneursdumonde.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/ENTREPRENEURS-DU-MONDE_Annual-report-2020-1.pdf

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