The €10 million loan granted to the Société nigérienne de banque (SONIBANK) reflects Proparco’s commitment to support the private sector, and in particular small and medium-sized enterprises, in fragile countries.
This loan will enable SONIBANK, Niger’s leading commercial bank in terms of jobs and resources, to develop its lending activity in the country. In particular, it will enable the bank to develop its medium- and long-term financing offer for SMEs and to create new products to meet their specific needs.
As a landlocked Sahelian country, Niger is one of the countries facing the greatest economic difficulties. This financing is part of Proparco’s commitment to devote €1 billion to supporting the private sector in fragile countries (least developed, low-income, transition and post-crisis countries) between 2017 and 2020.
It also reflects AFD Group’s strong ambition to increase its support for African small and medium-sized enterprises, which was reflected in March 2019 with the launch of the Choose Africa initiative to accelerate the growth of start-ups and MSMEs in Africa.