MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation Loans $3.1m to Microfinance Institution Baobab Burkina Faso

The unit of France-based Baobab Group that operates in Burkina Faso has accepted a local-currency loan equal to EUR 3.1 million (USD 3.1 million) from the Luxembourg-based Grameen Crédit Agricole (GCA) Foundation. Baobab Group offers microbanking, solar-powered devices and tablets in eight African countries as well as China. Its outstanding loans total EUR 683 million (USD 700 million), and it holds client deposits of EUR 311 million (USD 319 million) as of 2021. Baobab Burkina Faso offers savings accounts and emergency personal loans as well as loans ranging from CFA 100,000 (USD 155) to CFA 130 million (USD 200,000) for micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises. As of 2022, the microbank employs 240 people serving 43,000 customers – including 13,000 borrowers – via 10 branches.

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 91 million) outstanding to 75 partners in 36 countries in Africa and Eurasia.

Crédit Agricole was established in 1885 to provide agricultural loans in France. As of December 2021, it serves 53 million people in 47 countries. It values its assets under management at EUR 2.6 trillion (USD 2.6 trillion) as of March 2022.

By Ben Greissman, Research Associate

Sources and Additional Resources

GCA Foundation press release
https://www.gca-foundation.org/en/media-room/#the-foundation-grants-a-first-loan-to-the-microfinance-institution-baobab-in-burkina

Baobab Group homepage
https://baobabgroup.com

Baobab Burkina Faso webpage
https://baobabgroup.com/bf/

Baobab Burkina Faso products
https://baobabgroup.com/bf/credit-entrepreneur/

Baobab Group annual report
https://baobabgroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Annual-Report-2021_BD.pdf

GCA foundation homepage
https://www.gca-foundation.org

Previous MicroCapital article on GCA Foundation
https://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-brief-fusion-microfinance-borrows-4m-from-credit-agricole-cib-for-group-lending-to-rural-women-owned-businesses-in-india-guaranteed-by-gca-foundation/

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