Dear MYC4 Community,
We are happy to welcome a new partner to the MYC4 marketplace and at the same time open up for new activities in Côte d’Ivoire.
Afrique Emergence & Investissements (AE&I) is a private micro finance institution, specialized in the distribution of micro-credit and loans and in the structuring of micro saving products for small size businesses and the informal economic activities in Africa.
MYC4 has been in contact with AE&I for almost 2 years and recently carried out a thorough due diligence on AE&I, which has proven to be a very strong organization with a good performance and track record, and with established and well proven procedure and governance.
At the same time, AE&I has committed to take over collections efforts on MYC4’s old, outstanding portfolio in Côte d’Ivoire (Notre Nation and Ivoire Credit). These efforts have already begun, and the first collections were made last week.
Expanding activities in Côte d’Ivoire is an important step for MYC4. West Africa in general holds a great need for financial services, and the markets are far from serviced. Additionally, Côte d’Ivoire is an interesting market given the fact that the currency is fixed to the Euro meaning that there is no currency risk made on investments in Côte d’Ivoire (except for a general devaluation of the CFA in all eight CFA countries which last happened in the mid 90’s).
The partnership will start with an intro phase, allowing AE&I to upload loans at a total value of EUR 200,000 in the coming six months. Hereafter, MYC4 will evaluate the performance of AE&I with a view to expand the partnership and upload limit.
Training this week – 1st loan expected May 1st
This week, MYC4 staff is carrying out on the ground training of AE&I’s employees. This entails e.g. the operation of MYC4’s systems, repayment procedures and policies. During this week, AE&I’s partner profiles will also be created on MYC4.com, and we expect to be able to upload the first loan from AE&I by May 1st.
As has been made obligatory for all new partners, MYC4 has entered into a risk sharing agreement with AE&I based on the same principles as our agreement with Fusion Capital. That means that AE&I has provided a bank guarantee equaling 20% of their outstanding balance to cover defaults. In case of defaults, the Investors carry the first 5% risk and AE&I covers 95%.
Rated best performing MFI in Côte d’Ivoire
AE&I was founded in 2003 by a former Citibank executive, Fahan Bamba, and in 2007 the company was rated the 16th best performing MFI globally by MIX Market (
see the report here).
Fahan Bamba
In 2009, a joint committee consisting of UNDP, Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Social Affairs rated AE&I the no. 1 performing MFI in Cote d'Ivoire ahead of
CECI and Caisse Rural.
AE&I is partnering with a range of highly profiled partners. Thus,
AfriCap, I&P Development and Access Bank are shareholders in the company. AE&I is additionally funded by Oikocredit, PlaNet Finance and BRS (Banque Regionale de Solidarité).
Starting out just after political and social disturbance in Côte d’Ivoire, AE&I had the goal of providing access to capital for unbanked people. Thus, AE&I is built on a strong social profile, which is very much in line with MYC4’s mission. For the time being their 6 branches in Abidjan and one in the coastal town of Sassandra are offering relatively small loans to individuals in urban areas but over time AE&I wish to expand both in product offering and geographic outreach. Recently they have introduced a micro-lease product which allows women to gradually buy their market stall in newly build, hygienic, central market places in Abidjan. The women pay a daily small amount (1 $) and after less than one year they own their stall – a rare privilege in a country where private property is usually reserved for the rich. Apart from the 7 branch offices AE&I is conveniently located close to the borrowers through a system of 42 small kiosks in central locations.
AE&I are managing their portfolio and savings by means of the Rolls Royce of Microfinance IT, Bankers’ Realm from Croft Silicon.
Additionally, in August 2009, the African Management Services Company, AMSCO, which is a programme under among others the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and International Finance Programme (IFC) together with the African MF investor Africap (also a shareholder of AE&I), has provided a two-year position of an experienced microfinance expert, Alain Agnipke, who has the assignment to assist and continue to strengthen AE&I’s governance and procedures during the coming growth. AE&I plan to break even already this year.
Former Kiva partner
From April 2007 to July 2008, AE&I was operating as a Kiva field partner, disbursing little more than 200 loans at a total of USD 192,757. However, after Kiva claimed to have found some inconsistency in AE&I’s loan portfolio, they decided to terminate the partnership, and after AE&I has repaid all outstanding loans by July 2008, the partnership was terminated. This information is available on
kiva.org. MYC4 has contacted Kiva to get further information and have asked Kiva to elaborate on the matter, but because the facts of the case were very “muddy”, Kiva does not wish to give further comments that what is stated on their website. The matter arose when a
Kiva Fellow (a volunteer programme under Kiva) discovered irregularities in AE&I’s procedures. The fellow
’s blog can be seen
here. To get the full picture of what happened back in early 2008 it is essential also to read
AE&I’s version of the events on their website.
MYC4 has no reason to believe that AE&I has been doing fraudulent business, and all references, audits and reviews show that AE&I is a healthy organization with high ethical standards. The same is the case with MYC4’s due diligence, which firstly lives up to our highly strengthened demands, and secondly has been even more thorough because of the previous case with Kiva. We find no reason for not partnering with AE&I.
MYC4 is happy to welcome AE&I on MYC4 and wish them and our many investors, who can now again invest without currency risk, good luck on our marketplace!
You can read more about AE&I on their own
homepage, which is, however, undergoing redesign.
AE&I's office.
Best regards,
Jes Colding
Executive PA and responsible for West Africa Operations