To mark the launch of the new “Resilience” component of the French Choose Africa initiative in Burkina Faso, Mrs. Fatoumata Sissoko-Sy, PROPARCO’s Regional Director for West Africa, and Mr. Harold Coffi, Chief Executive Officer of Société Générale Burkina Faso, have today signed a new Choose Africa project in the presence of H.E. Luc Hallade, Ambassador of France to Burkina Faso. The exceptional Choose Africa Resilience guarantee granted by PROPARCO will cover the allocation of loans by Société Générale Burkina Faso to SMEs in the country affected by the crisis.
This EUR 1.5m guarantee (XOF 1bn) allocated today by PROPARCO, AFD’s private sector financing arm, will allow Société Générale Burkina Faso, PROPARCO’s main and longstanding partner in the country, to offer loans with an 80% guarantee from AFD Group to small and medium-sized enterprises in the country weakened by the crisis.
Following the analysis of financing requests by Société Générale Burkina Faso, companies with less than 200 employees affected by the crisis can be allocated loans with maturities of 12 to 60 months. These loans could account for up to three months of the turnover for 2019.
This provision of loans with an 80% guarantee from AFD Group is part of the new Resilience component of the French Choose Africa initiative and has been made possible by support from the French Government. Launched in November 2020 in response to the economic crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, this EUR 1bn Resilience component brings the Choose Africa initiative to support start-ups and MSMEs in Africa to EUR 3.5bn. Over EUR 2bn have already been deployed by AFD Group under the French Choose Africa initiative.
“Choose Africa and its strengthening, via the Resilience component launched last year in response to the crisis, demonstrate France’s strong commitment to start-ups and MSMEs which play a key role in the economy, job creation and access to essential goods and services for people”, said H.E. Luc Hallade, Ambassador of France to Burkina Faso.
“We welcome this signing and our dynamic partnership with Société Générale Burkina Faso and are pleased to be providing a swift response to support entrepreneurs hit hard by the crisis”, said Fatoumata Sissoko-Sy, PROPARCO’s Regional Director for West Africa.
“This signing confirms Société Générale Burkina Faso’s ongoing commitment to serve our clients and continue to support them during this health crisis, by offering them customized financing solutions and specific assistance”, said Mr. Harold Coffi, Chief Executive Officer of Société Générale Burkina Faso.