Guarantee agreement between BOA and IFC for African SMEs

The Bank Of Africa Group (BOA) of BMCE Bank and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) of the World Bank Group have just concluded a portfolio guarantee agreement in the amount of $ 60 million. dollars to increase funding for African SMEs, we learn from BOA.
This funding will allow the BOA Group to increase its SME financing in 8 countries and thus contribute to job creation and growth, the group said in a statement released Wednesday.
The agreement provides a 50% risk guarantee on a maximum portfolio of $ 120 million of financing for SMEs in Burkina Faso, Ghana, Madagascar, Mali, Niger, Senegal, Tanzania and Togo, reports the MAP.
Half of the investment will be dedicated to supporting women's SMEs, as well as activities related to the fight against climate change: acquisition of efficient equipment in energy consumption, installation of small solar systems or biomass, the establishment of climate-smart supply chains in the agricultural sector, among others.
Funding is provided through the support of the Women Entrepreneurs Opportunity Facility (WEOF) – launched by IFC through its Banking on Women program – and the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women initiative.
Funding was also supported by the Global SME Finance Facility, a partnership between IFC, DFID (the UK's international development agency) and the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
For Amine Bouabid, CEO of BOA Group, "this funding is in line with a strategy initiated two years ago, to increase our support for SMEs. We are indeed convinced that they carry the true development, a tangible development, anchored in the daily realities of the African citizens ".
SMEs in sub-Saharan Africa account for 30-67% of GDP and create 67% of jobs.
Majority owned by BMCE Bank, the BOA Group is now established in 18 countries, including 8 in West Africa (Benin, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Mali, Niger, Togo and Senegal) , 8 in East Africa and the Indian Ocean (Burundi, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda), the Democratic Republic of Congo, and France.