On the occasion of the first visit to Côte d’Ivoire of Proparco’s new CEO Françoise Lombard, Proparco granted 6 portfolio guarantees to Société Générale Côte d’Ivoire, Ecobank Côte d’Ivoire and Advans Côte d’Ivoire amounting to a total of 30.7 million euros, i.e. more than 19 billion CFA francs. These guarantees will enable the three financial institutions to increase their financing activity for MSMEs in the country.
As more than 1,500 business leaders, investors and policy makers gather this week in Abidjan to discuss the new roads to African prosperity, Proparco reaffirms its strong and long-term commitment to African entrepreneurship, which plays a key role in job creation and access to essential goods and services on the continent.
Société Générale Côte d’Ivoire, Ecobank Côte d’Ivoire and Advans Côte d’Ivoire have played a central role in financing entrepreneurship in Côte d’Ivoire for many years. As such, they are historical partners of Proparco and the French initiative Choose Africa. This initiative implemented by AFD Group aims to commit 3.5 billion euros to African start-ups and MSMEs over the 2018-2022 period.
To enable them to strengthen their lending to MSMEs, Proparco has granted six portfolio guarantees totaling 30.7 million euros to these financial institutions. These guarantees, of three different types, illustrate the richness of AFD Group’s offer and its capacity to meet the diverse financing needs of African entrepreneurs.
– ARIZ portfolio guarantees were granted to Société Générale Côte d’Ivoire and Ecobank Côte d’Ivoire. The ARIZ guarantee is one of AFD Group’s emblematic tools, particularly effective in encouraging investment and job creation in SMEs operating in many sectors of activity (agriculture, health, industry, microfinance, transport, etc.).
– A EURIZ portfolio guarantee has also been granted to Société Générale Côte d’Ivoire. Launched in May 2019 with the support of the European Union and the European Development Fund, and the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States, the EURIZ guarantee aims to facilitate access to credit for underserved MSMEs, particularly in sectors with a high developmental impact, in order to help them play their essential role in economic growth and job creation.
– Finally, Advans Côte d’Ivoire and Ecobank Côte d’Ivoire will benefit from an exceptional portfolio guarantee from AFD Group of up to 80% coverage to enable them to strengthen their loan offer to Ivorian small and medium-sized enterprises weakened by the covid-19 crisis. This guarantee offer by AFD Group is part of the Resilience component of the French Choose Africa initiative, launched in 2020 in response to the crisis thanks to the support of the French government.
“The success and impact of the French Choose Africa initiative rely heavily on the expertise of local partners, who are best able to meet the needs of entrepreneurs. Proparco is therefore very pleased to strengthen its partnership with Société Générale Côte d’Ivoire, Ecobank Côte d’Ivoire and Advans Côte d’Ivoire, three institutions that are among the main allies of SMEs in Côte d’Ivoire, and to make available to them the diversity of AFD Group’s offer for the financing needs of SMEs“, said Françoise Lombard, Chief Executive Officer of Proparco.
