Grameen Credit Agricole (GCA) Foundation, which has offices in France and Luxembourg, recently lent Oxus Tajikistan, one of three microfinance institution (MFI) affiliates of the France-based Oxus Development Network, local currency approximately equivalent to USD 760,000. The purpose is to expand Oxus Tajikistan’s lending to the “working poor and unbanked.” The MFI was founded in 2004 and has 27 service locations. Its portfolio totals EUR 16.6 million (USD 18.1 million) outstanding to 14,300 clients, 82 percent of whom live in rural areas. The other Oxus MFIs are in Afghanistan and Kyrgyzstan.
Oxus Development Network is an initiative of the French NGO Agency for Technical Cooperation and Development (ACTED). ACTED works in 40 countries, serving people who “have suffered from conflict, natural disaster, or socio-economic hardship.” Per its 2021 annual report, it has a total budget of EUR 393 million (USD 431 million) and 18 million beneficiaries.
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 2023, GCA Foundation manages assets valued at EUR 89 million (USD 97 million) outstanding to 62 partners in 37 countries in Africa and Eurasia. Of these partners’ clients, 93 percent are women, and 86 percent live in rural areas.
By Elva Montelongo, Research Associate
Sources and Additional Sources
GCA Foundation press release
https://www.gca-foundation.org/en/media-room/#increased-activity-in-eastern-europe-and-central-asia
GCA Foundation profile on Oxus Tajikistan
https://www.gca-foundation.org/organisation/oxus-3/
Oxus Tajikistan homepage
https://www.oxus.tj
Oxus Development Network homepage
https://www.oxusnetwork.org/
ACTED homepage
https://www.acted.org
ACTED annual report
https://www.acted.org/en/about-us/annual-report-2/
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