MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Institution RENACA of Benin Borrows $1.7m from Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation

Reseau National des Caisses Villageoises d’Epargne et de Crédit Autogérées du Bénin (RENACA), a microfinance organization serving vulnerable groups in Benin, has borrowed the approximate equivalent of USD 1.7 million from the Grameen Crédit Agricole (GCA) Foundation, a Luxembourg-based NGO that promotes “financial inclusion and entrepreneurship with social impact.”

Established in 2005 by the local NGO Centre Béninois por le Développement des Initiatives à la Base (CBDIBA), RENACA offers group and individual products ranging from savings, loans and money transfers to advisory services and job training. Through eight agencies, RENACA serves 41,000 customers, most of whom are women and about 16,000 of whom live in rural areas. The institution has a loan portfolio of EUR 17 million (USD 19 million); data on its savings holdings are not available.

Credit Agricole, a French retail bank, in partnership with Muhammad Yunus, the founder of Grameen Bank, 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 December 2021, GCA Foundation has a portfolio of EUR 78 million (USD 88 million) outstanding to 80 partners in 37 countries in Africa and Eurasia. Approximately 85 percent of its investees’ clients live in rural areas, and 73 percent are women.

By Adhya Singh, Research Associate

Sources and Additional Resources

GCA Foundation press release
https://www.gca-foundation.org/en/media-room/#the-foundation-grants-7-new-financings-in-subsaharan-africa

RENACA homepage
https://www.renacabenin.org/

GCA Foundation profile on RENACA
https://www.gca-foundation.org/en/organisation/renaca-2/

CBDIBA homepage
https://www.cbdiba.org/

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