Inspiring Sustainable Business in Africa
KENYA – Moringa School, an intensive tech education program, has received an investment from Proparco to support its expansion outside Kenya. Moringa has been training high school/university graduates to be software engineers and data scientists for the past 7 years in Kenya and has trained over 4,000 students with an employment rate of over 85%. The investment from Proparco will…
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CÔTE D’IVOIRE – Proparco, a Development Finance Institution partly owned by the French Development Agency (AFD), has granted 6 portfolio guarantees to Société Générale Côte d’Ivoire, Ecobank Côte d’Ivoire and Advans Côte d’Ivoire. The guarantee amounts to a total of €30.7 million (US$32.12m), to enable the three financial institutions increase their financing activity for MSMEs in the country. These guarantees,…
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AFRICA – Proparco, the private financing arm of Group Agence Française de Développement (AFD Group), is set to invest US$10 million in MUA, a regional insurer with operations in Mauritius, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania, and the Seychelles. The investment represents a landmark partnership between Proparco and MUA, with the strategic investor being the largest international investor of its kind in…
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TANZANIA – CRDB Bank, a financial services provider, has secured TSh182 billion (US$78.41m) from private sector financier, Proparco to bolster the bank’s lending capacity to micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in the country. The amount, in form of a credit line and two portfolio guarantees, will be channelled towards financing MSMEs in line with the country’s economic growth agenda,…
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AFRICA – International Finance Corporation (IFC), African and European partners have launched Alliance for Entrepreneurship in Africa to support private sector growth in Africa. The Alliance will combine and focus the technical and financial strengths of its members to improve Africa’s business environment and support the growth and success of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), women in business, and young…
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EAST AFRICA – Goodlife Pharmacies, healthcare and retail pharmacy chain, raised US$12 million in debt financing from Proparco, the French Development Finance Institution, to increase access to quality medicines and healthcare services in East Africa. Goodlife is the largest private pharmacy chain in East Africa and has grown its pharmacy and health hub network to nearly 100 locations across Kenya…
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AFRICA – Proparco, has invested US$10 million in the African Guarantee Fund (AGF) to support the Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa (AFAWA) initiative launched to increase access to finance for women entrepreneurs. The AFAWA is a joint initiative of the African Development Bank and the AGF launched in 2016 and supported by France and the G7 member states.…
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SOUTH AFRICA – Respublica Group, a developer, owner and manager of student accommodation, has secured ZAR 516 million (US$36m) equity investment to it develop high-quality, affordable accommodation for thousands of students, and strengthen its environmental and social standards. The investment is from IFC in partnership with Proparco, the French development finance institution, and Bopa Moruo Private Equity and RMB Ventures.…
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KENYA – French development finance institution Proparco, has granted Equity Bank two guarantee facilities, ARIZ and EURIZ totaling €39 million (US$45.5 million) to help the Kenyan bank further support job-creating MSMEs. Proparco also granted a €550,000 (US$641,432) technical assistance facility to support Equity Group Foundation’s health projects. The EURIZ guarantee and the technical assistance grant benefited from support from the…
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AFRICA – French President Emmanuel Macron has made a new EUR130 million (US$150 million) commitment to support 500 African startups as part of a rejigged Digital Africa initiative. Launched in 2018 with the mission to equip African tech entrepreneurs with capabilities to design and scale-up ground-breaking innovations for the real economy, Digital Africa brings together startups, academia, incubators, institutional financiers,…
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