Microcredit Foundation Mi-Bospo of Bosnia and Herzegovina recently agreed to borrow EUR 2 million (USD 2.2 million) from the Grameen Credit Agricole (GCA) Foundation, which has offices in France and Luxembourg. Mi-Bospo serves 26,000 clients, mostly women who live in rural areas. Its offerings include loan products designed for investing in business, agriculture, housing and energy efficiency. A sampling of its loans range in size from BAM 300 (USD 170) to BAM 2,000 (USD 1,100), with terms of one to two years and a nominal annual interest rate of 22 percent. The precursor to Mi-Bospo was launched in 1996 as a program of the nonprofit Bosnian Council for Aid, which also is known as Bospo. Mi-Bospo became an independent entity in 2000.
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 98 million), outstanding to 62 partners in 37 countries in Africa and Eurasia. These partners’ beneficiaries are mainly women living 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
Mi-Bospo homepage
https://mi-bospo.org
Mi-Bospo description
https://mi-bospo.org/nas-pocetak
Mi-Bospo financials
https://mi-bospo.org/files/dokumenti/RegulatorniZahtjevi/cjenovnik_usluga_kredita.pdf
GCA Foundation homepage
https://www.gca-foundation.org
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