Cofina Mali
BIO has granted a EUR 3 M loan to Cofina Mali, a microfinance institution in Mali.
Amount
€ 3,000,000.00
Type of investment
Debt
Development impacts
- Local economic growth
- Private sector consolidation/innovation
- Financial inclusion
- Promotion of ESG best practices
Beneficiary locations
Investment field
Financial Institutions
Activity
Cofina is a young pan-African mesofinance group. Following the 2019 investments into the Ivorian and the Senegalese subsidiaries, BIO has the opportunity to support Cofina Mali, which is less mature and is operating in a complex market with low financial inclusion.
This investment will allow Cofina Mali to support the informal economy in a post-covid context.
Development impacts
-
Local economic growth
Access to full range of banking services to highly underserved MSME segment in a fragile and LDC context.
Support growth of thousands of informal micro-enterprises, which are key drivers for local economic activity, employment, and poverty alleviation
Direct jobs supported and created, as well as the expected doubling of the number of branches by 2025
-
Private sector consolidation/innovation
Innovative and more efficient banking processes and products that are especially adapted to the target MSME segment
-
Financial inclusion
Specific credit and saving services for informal micro-entrepreneurs which are the key target of Cofina
-
Promotion of ESG best practices
Institution strongly motivated to obtain SmartCampaign certification
SPI4 assessment and related recommendations are part of BIO’s ESAP.
E&S Impact
E&S improvement measures that will be implemented
- Formalise an E&S policy and fully align the exclusion list to the EDFI exclusion list.
- Perform an external SPI4 Social Performance Audit & implement the action plan as identified by the auditor.
- implement HR measures regarding road safety and the employees’ grievance mechanism.
Besides these actions, Cofina Mali will be one of the three subsidiaries that will start implementing the E&S action plan agreed between Cofina Group and other DFIs.
Current situation
Cofina Mali is a microfinance institution with the majority of its portfolio oriented towards micro-entrepreneurs. While Cofina Mali currently has no formal E&S policy in place, it already uses an exclusion list as part of the credit manual, which is largely aligned with the EDFI exclusion list. They are also compliant with the majority of the IFC PS 2 requirements regarding labour conditions.
Risk Category : C
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