RepoRt on - BNP Paribas

despite the crisis, bnP Paribas has not
revised its initial target and at the end
of 2009 financed 17 partners in 8 countries
(mexico, morocco, mali, tunisia,
egypt, guinea, india and indonesia).
authorised microfinance outstandings
amount to almost eur 50 million, split
51% in africa, 40% in asia and 9% in latin
america. micro-loans have been granted
to 300,000 borrowers, 86% of whom
are women, and have an impact on
more than 1.5 million people counting
their families.
with its mfi partners, the group endorses
the six guiding principles set out
by the consultative group to assist the
Poor (cgaP), an association of development
agencies, as regards consumer
protection and transparency: protection
against excessive debts, pricing
transparency, appropriate collection
practices, compliance of mfi staff with
a code of conduct, a mechanism for
handling complaints and disputes and
customer data protection.
bnP Paribas has forged partnerships
with several international microfinance
networks such as solidarité
Internationale pour le Développement
et l’Investissement (sidi), Horus,
grameen foundation in the united
states and Planet finance. the aim is
to develop relationships with networks
which share the same risk management
and social impact methodologies
with their affiliates.
micro-insurance
as an adjunct to its microfinance activities,
bnP Paribas assurance has become
a shareholder of Planet guarantee, a
subsidiary of Planet finance, set up in
2007 to develop micro-insurance for
mfis. from january to october 2009,
Planet guarantee worked with 8 partner
mfis in 7 countries, providing insurance
for 125,000 micro-entrepreneurs. it also
initiated 10 research and development
projects in 12 countries.
microfinance funds
the market for microfinance investment
vehicles is growing rapidly. there are
currently 103 investment vehicles with
usd 6.6 billion of assets under management.
of these, 25 are commercial
in nature. as part of its responsible investment
offering, bnP Paribas wealth
management has since 2005 marketed
a microfinance fund to its international
clients. the fund helps support around
320,000 entrepreneurs in more than
40 developing countries.
obli etheis
this mutual fund won two major accreditations
in 2009. it gained novethic
accreditation for its incorporation of
environmental, social and governance
criteria into its investment process and
for the quality of its csr reporting, as
well as finansol accreditation for its microfinance
investments.
at end-2009, around eur 16.4 million
was invested with financing institutions
(agence française de développement,
european bank for reconstruction and
development), helping to finance
numerous sustainable development
projects in europe and worldwide.
eur 3.7 million was also allocated to microfinance
institutions, giving around
3,500 micro-entrepreneurs in africa,
asia and south america access to small
loans to enable them to develop their
businesses.
84 RappoRt SuR la ReSponSabilité SoCiale et enviRonnementale 2009
microfinance
in tunisia
bnp paribas has supported
microfinance in tunisia since 2008
through financing provided by its
ubci subsidiary to the enda inter
Arabe ngo. enda inter Arabe has
operated in tunisia for 20 years,
and has been involved in
microcredit for 15 years. it is
a member of senegal-based enda
tiers monde, and has focused on
individual entrepreneurs and very
small companies since 2000.
enda’s 57 branches serve
134,000 customers in deprived
areas. they have granted
564,000 loans totalling 310 million
tunisian dinars (eur 160 million)
to 200,000 people. in 2008,
enda was ranked the 18th most
effective microfinance institution
in the world, out of 1,300 surveyed
by the World bank, in terms
of profitability, transparency
and governance. this success
arises from its close community
ties and its efforts to understand
and educate its customers. enda
is a founder member of sanabel,
a microfinance network in Arab
countries, and of Women’s World
banking in new york. nafissa
Chebbi, an enda customer
from southern tunisia, left school
at 13 and is a weaver. she
currently specialises in all kinds
of traditional weaving. her skills
enable her to provide for her
family. in the last two years,
nafissa, a customer of enda
inter arabe, has taken out 4 loans
totalling 2,000 tunisian dinars
(eur 1,000). she runs a small
company that employs 8 young
women, whom she has trained.
the links between ubci and enda
were strengthened in 2009 when
ubci helped enda to train its
executives about risk
management, the regulation
of foreign exchange operations
and commercial techniques.
this reflects the desire of ubci
and bnp paribas to work
with microfinance organisations
that have a major social impact
on communities.