PROPARCO has just signed its first operation on the Cape Verde archipelago, with the local bank BCN. The ARIZ portfolio guarantee will allow the Cape Verde bank to increase its financing for microenterprises and SMEs in the country. This partnership confirms AFD Group’s continued support to the development of Cape Verde.
Banco Caboverdiano de Negócios (BCN) is the first beneficiary of the ARIZ guarantee mechanism in Cape Verde. For over ten years now, ARIZ has been allowing financial institutions to share risks and thereby encourages local banks to develop their activities for loans allocated to small businesses, which are often considered as being a risky client base.
Indeed, access to credit for microenterprises is a key issue for the development of the archipelago, as local businesses find it hard to meet all the conditions required to access financing.
Thanks to the ARIZ agreement, BCN will be able to benefit from a guarantee on the loans it allocates to microenterprises and SMEs on the archipelago. The portfolio guarantee will thereby allow the bank to develop its range of loans for small businesses which contribute to the sustainable economic development of the country.
This operation confirms BCN’s commitment to small and medium-sized enterprises. This commitment is also seen with the opening of a reception center specifically for microenterprises in Praia, the capital of Cape Verde.
This new project to support African microenterprises and SMEs is also part of the French Choose Africa initiative implemented by AFD Group. With Choose Africa, PROPARCO and AFD will earmark EUR 2.5bn to finance and support 10,000 start-ups, microenterprises and SMEs in Africa by 2022.
► Find out more about the ARIZ risk sharing mechanism