We are proud to announce that our member Proparco and Agence Française de Développement Group (AFD) has committed approx. €2.5 billion to finance MSMEs and entrepreneurs in Africa, by the year 2022. The Choose Africa initiative is implemented by the AFD group and coordinated by Proparco.
About 10,000 African companies will be supported by this initiative. They will provide €1.5 billion in credit lines to local financial institutions that are dedicated to SME financing, or guarantees to banks to share the risk on SME lending. They will provide €1 billion in private equity either through direct investments in companies or indirectly, via private equity SME-focused funds.
The French initiative Choose Africa is a reflection of France’s commitment to supporting African entrepreneurial impetus. With Choose Africa, the AFD Group and Proparco aim to accompany MSMEs and entrepreneurs at all stages of their development, via a wide range of financing and support solutions. Through their support, they want to strengthen the performance of small businesses so that they continue to play their fundamental role in creating jobs, boosting economic growth and innovation.
Proparco is the private sector financing arm of Agence Française de Développement (AFD). They have been working to support development in Southern countries for 40 years. It plays a key role in AFD Group and the French cooperation mechanism: financing and support for projects led by companies and financial institutions in developing and emerging countries – from SMEs to regional banking groups, including microfinance institutions.
