MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Grameen Credit Agricole Foundation Loans $3.7m to Proximity, Chamroeun for Microfinance in Myanmar, Cambodia
The Grameen Credit Agricole (GCA) Foundation, whose head office is in Luxembourg, recently issued the following loans: (1) MMK 3 billion (USD 2 million) to Proximity Designs, a US-registered NGO that operates exclusively in Myanmar; and (2) USD 1.8 million to Chamroeun of Cambodia to help these institutions increase their microlending capacity.
Proximity Designs offers technical assistance and research services as well as – through Proximity Finance – loans for farming, raising livestock, relocation and small business. Per its September 2019 quarterly report, Proximity Designs has a loan portfolio of approximately USD 29 million disbursed to 117,000 borrowers. The NGO also has approximately 95,000 depositors with an average balance of USD 8. These customers earn 14 percent per year on their savings.
Chamroeun is a microfinance institution that operates 21 branches. It has total assets of KHR 95 billion (USD 23 million) and a gross loan portfolio of KHR 77 billion (USD 18.9 million) as of 2019. During the third quarter of 2019, it generated return on assets of 4.21 percent and return on equity of 21.7 percent.
GCA Foundation was established 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 with the aim of creating a “better-shared economy.” As of December 2019, GCA Foundation had commitments of EUR 96 million (USD 107 million) outstanding to 82 partners in 39 countries in Africa and Eurasia. These partners serve 5 million customers, of whom 75 percent are women and 74 percent live in rural areas.
Sources and Additional Resources
GCA Foundation news release
GCA Foundation homepage
Proximity Designs homepage
Proximity Designs report for the quarter ending September 2019
https://proximitydesigns.org/wp-content/uploads/ProximityDesigns_FY20_Q1-report.pdf
Chamroeun homepage
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Grameen Credit Agricole Foundation Lends $1.2m to DR Congo’s Hekima; Burkina Faso’s SOFIPE, ACFIME
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Published Date: Thursday, January 9, 2020
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