MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Institution (MFI) Kafo-Jiginew of Mali Borrows $3.4m from Grameen Credit Agricole Foundation

Kafo-Jiginew, a microfinance institution (MFI) in Mali, has borrowed EUR 3 million (USD 3.4 million) from the Luxembourg-based Grameen Credit Agricole (GCA) Foundation to support microlending in Mali. Kafo-Jiginew, which is organized as a credit union, seeks to “offer financial services (savings, credit, microinsurance, fund transfers, etc) to the greatest number of people in Mali to improve their living conditions.” The institution also provides non-financial services, such as disaster response and food donation.

According to the Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX), a US-based NGO, Kafo-Jiginew has total assets of USD 93 million, a gross loan portfolio of USD 66 million distributed to 67,140 borrowers, and USD 57 million in deposits held for 296,290 depositors as of 2017.

GCA Foundation was founded in 2008 by Credit Agricole SA, a French retail bank, in partnership with Muhammad Yunus, the founder of the Grameen Bank of Bangladesh. The foundation provides funding and technical assistance to microfinance institutions and other social businesses. As of November 2018, GCA Foundation has commitments of approximately EUR 78 million (USD 89 million) outstanding to 76 partners in 35 countries in Africa and Eurasia. Its partners serve 3 million customers, of whom 75 percent are women and 79 percent live in rural areas.

Tiannah Steele, Research Associate

Sources and Additional Resources

Direct contact with the Grameen Credit Agricole Foundation

MIX profile on Kafo-Jiginew
https://www.themix.org/mixmarket/profiles/kafo-jiginew

Facebook profile on Kafo-Jiginew
https://www.facebook.com/KAFO-Jiginew-593978367635005/

Confédération des Institutions Financières Profile on Kafo-Jiginew
https://www.cif-ao.org/le-mouvement/kajo-jiginew-mali/

Grameen Credit Agricole Foundation data
http://gca-foundation.org/the-foundation

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Grameen Credit Agricole Foundation Lending Microloan Foundation (MLF) $292k in Local Currency for Microfinance in Rural Malawi
https://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-brief-grameen-credit-agricole-foundation-lending-microloan-foundation-mlf-292k-in-local-currency-for-microfinance-in-rural-malawi/

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