The French Development Agency (AFD) will provide US$30 million via the African Guarantee Fund for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (AGF), to improve their credit access. The French project will focus on small and medium enterprises (SMEs) across Africa.
AFD Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Rémy Rioux and AGF Group Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Félix Bikpo, signed the agreement to this effect in Paris on 28th November, 2019. The fund will be used for hedging risks in the sector by offering counter guarantees and financing private initiatives, among other things. It is estimated that roughly 1800 SMEs will get benefited through the scheme creating over 5400 jobs in various countries in Africa. Emphasis is also laid in increasing African women’s access to finance through the Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa (AFAWA) initiative.
AFAWA launched at the Global Gender Summit received commitment from the Government of France during the Biarritz Summit in August 2019. AFD and AGF are evolving approaches to get involved in the project more actively.
Other shareholders in the project are; French Development Agency (AFD), Nordic Development Fund (NDF), Investment Fund for Developing Countries (IFU) and KfW Development Bank (KfW).
