The Agence Française de Développement Group launched the Choose Africa initiative in 2019, to fulfil the commitment made in Ouagadougou by the President of the Republic of France, Mr Emmanuel Macron, to support the revolution in entrepreneurship and innovation in Africa.
With Choose Africa, more than €2.5 billion will be devoted to financing and supporting MSMEs and entrepreneurs on the African continent by 2022. More than 10,000 African companies will benefit from this initiative.
Since the program was launched, €1 billion has been committed to finance African start-ups and MSMEs, of which €370 million, more than a third, in West Africa and around €160 million in Côte d’Ivoire.
This event was also an opportunity to present start-ups that have benefited from AFD Group’s support in the framework of the Social and Inclusive Business Camp 2019, to present companies that have received funding from Proparco’s partner funds, and to sign several agreements with local banks to strengthen SME financing in Côte d’Ivoire.
Signing of three new projects, as part of the AFD Group’s Choose Africa initiative:
Proparco reasserts its support of Société Générale Côte d’Ivoire (SG CI)’s SME strategy, by granting a €15 million guarantee dedicated to a pilot project that will enable the development of a guarantee scheme on short-term trade finance operations. This signature confirms Proparco’s confidence in this partnership with Société Générale’s Ivorian subsidiary, which is also the first partner of the ARIZ guarantee for SMEs in Côte d’Ivoire.
This project will support SG CI’s SME strategy, and the growth of SG Group’s commitments to this segment through its Grow with Africa initiative.
This new operation completes the range of SME-dedicated instruments, by providing them with solutions that meet their needs during their operating cycle.
Signing of two SUNREF projects, a green credit line developed for companies by AFD:
Proparco reasserts its commitment to tackling climate change, by signing new SUNREF projects with SG CI for €10 million, and with NSIA for €7.5 million.
The SUNREF offer allows companies to purchase higher quality equipment, make cost savings and be more competitive. SUNREF also offers banks in the South special partnership conditions to allow them to seize the opportunities of green finance.
SUNREF’s innovation is based on the combination of a financial approach and a technical approach. The aim is to meet the demand of partner banks and project initiators:
• The financial approach involves providing local partner banks with long-term loans (green credit lines).
• The technical approach aims to support and scale up the market for green investment financing by assisting banks in project financing and building the capacities of companies to implement strategies for an optimized use of energy and natural resources.