Asian Credit Fund (ACF), a rural microfinance institution (MFI) in Kazakhstan, recently borrowed approximately USD 2 million from the Luxembourg-based Grameen Crédit Agricole (GCA) Foundation. 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 to support farming and other businesses. Among ACF’s loan products – one that is paired with advisory services – is for funding energy-efficient upgrades to homes.
As of 2022, ACF has nine branches and serves 34,000 clients, about two thirds of whom are women. The organization reported a microloan portfolio of KZT 16.4 billion (USD 34.7 million) and total assets of KZT 20.7 billion (USD 43.8 million) as of August 2022. Base of Pyramid Asia (BOPA), a Singapore-based investor with microfinance holdings in five Asian countries, purchased a majority stake in ACF from Mercy Corps in 2019.
Crédit Agricole, a French retail bank, in partnership with Muhammad Yunus, the founder of Grameen Bank of Bangladesh, 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 2022, it manages assets valued at EUR 89 million (USD 89 million) outstanding to 75 partners in 36 countries in Africa and Eurasia. These partners’ beneficiaries are mainly women living in rural areas.
Crédit Agricole was established in 1885 to provide agricultural loans in France. As of December 2021, it serves 53 million people in 47 countries. As of March 2022, the bank values its assets under management at EUR 2.6 trillion (USD 2.6 trillion).
By Renata Samadova, Research Associate
Sources and Additional Resources
GCA Foundation press release
https://www.gca-foundation.org/en/media-room/#the-foundation-grants-new-loans-in-central-and-south-asia
ACF homepage
https://asiancreditfund.com
https://asiancreditfund.com/en/4372
ACF 2021 annual report
https://asiancreditfund.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Annual-Report-2021-1.pdf
ACF August 2022 institutional performance report
https://asiancreditfund.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/ACF-Institutional-Performance-as-of-31.08.2022.pdf
GCA Foundation profile on ACF
https://www.gca-foundation.org/en/organisation/asian-credit-fund-acf/
Previous MicroCapital article on GCA Foundation
https://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-brief-grameen-credit-agricole-foundation-loans-1-9m-to-mikra-for-microfinance-in-bosnia-and-herzegovina/
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