The Luxembourg-based Grameen Credit Agricole (GCA) Foundation recently informed MicroCapital that it has disbursed a loan to Cooperative d’Epargne et de Credit (COOPEC) Soutien aux Initiatives de Femmes pour l’Autopromotion (SIFA) in local currency equivalent to USD 340,000. COOPEC SIFA is a microfinance institution (MFI) based in Dapaong, Togo, that offers savings and loan services to poor women in rural areas of northern Togo in an effort to enable them to generate more income. The organization was started by Mouvement des Jeunes et Adultes Ruraux et Catholiques, a faith-based NGO in Togo. As of December 2018, COOPEC SIFA serves approximately 38,000 clients, 86 percent of whom are women, with total assets of USD 6 million, a gross loan portfolio of USD 4.8 million and deposits of USD 600,000.
GCA Foundation was launched in 2008 by the directors of Credit Agricole, a French retail bank, and 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 promoting financial inclusion and social entrepreneurship. As of May 2019, GCA Foundation has a portfolio of EUR 82.2 million (USD 92.4 million) supporting 78 partners in 36 countries in Africa and Eurasia. Its partners serve approximately 4.1 million customers, of whom 74 percent are women and 75 percent live in rural areas.
By Daena McClintock, Research Associate
Sources and Additional Resources
Information provided to MicroCapital directly by the Grameen Credit Agricole Foundation
Grameen Credit Agricole Foundation 2018 Annual Report
http://gca-foundation.org/news/The-Foundation-publishes-its-2018-Integrated-Annual-Report
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: COMUBA of Benin, COOPEC SIFA of Togo Borrow $1m from Grameen Credit Agricole Microfinance Foundation (GCAMF)
https://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-brief-comuba-benin-coopec-sifa-togo-borrow-1m-grameen-credit-agricole-microfinance-foundation-ggamf/
MICROFINANCE BRIEF: UGAFODE of Uganda Borrows $1.1m in Local Currency from Grameen Credit Agricole Foundation for Microfinance
https://www.microcapital.org/microfinance-brief-ugafode-of-uganda-borrows-1-1m-in-local-currency-from-grameen-credit-agricole-foundation-for-microfinance/
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