In Cameroon, after Senegal, Societe Generale and Proparco will distribute and guarantee loans for businesses, from the very small to the medium. A way to help her last to boost the economy and jobs.
The French government’s new “Choose Africa” program is gradually taking concrete form. After Senegal, Cameroon is one of the first countries to benefit from an offer of loans guaranteed at 80% by the AFD group (French Development Agency). Offer based on direct support from France for very small businesses and SMEs affected by the crisis in Africa. The funding will be distributed by Societe Generale Cameroon.
Proparco, a subsidiary of AFD, has signed a partnership with the bank, which will allow the deployment of loans. The guarantee of 5 million euros granted by Proparco to Societe Generale Cameroon will enable the latter to rapidly scale up its action in support of VSEs and SMEs. After examining the funding requests, businesses with fewer than 200 people affected by the crisis will be able to benefit from loans of 12 to 48 months. These loans could represent up to three months of the turnover for the year 2019.
This guarantee offer is therefore a key tool of the Resilience component of the French Choose Africa initiative dedicated to supporting start-ups, micro-businesses and SMEs in Africa. Unveiled on November 30, 2020, this component brings France’s commitment to entrepreneurs on the continent to 3.5 billion euros over the 2018-2022 period. Choose Africa mobilizes a wide range of tools: lines of credit, guarantees, equity investments, technical support, etc.
More than 2 billion euros have already been deployed by the AFD group as part of this French initiative. In Cameroon, more than 900 VSEs and SMEs will benefit from the funding already committed. Several Cameroonian entrepreneurs “with a strong social impact” were also supported by the Agency as part of the Social & Inclusive Business Camp.
More support!
“The deployment of this exceptional guarantee will allow us to step up our action with Cameroonian SMEs, in particular those which are severely affected by the current crisis”, comments Audrey Maignan, Director of Proparco for Central Africa. “We are happy to be able to count on a partner such as Société Générale to meet the needs of these companies and preserve their ability to create jobs.”
Societe Generale Cameroon had received support from the Cameroonian government for the provision of a line of credit of CFAF 25 billion, intended for Cameroonian SMEs affected by the consequences of the health crisis.
Mareme Mbaye Ndiaye, director of Societe Generale Cameroon, recalls the importance of these lines of credit for “Cameroonian SMEs in the sectors of manufacturing industry, commerce, agriculture, hotels, tourism and transport”. Which “will be able to benefit from greater support in working capital, enjoy more flexible disbursement conditions to accelerate their investment projects, protect jobs and facilitate economic recovery”.
According to Mareme Mbaye Ndiaye, SMEs will be able to benefit from “attractive interest rates”. For his part, the Minister of Finance, Louis Paul Motaze, explained that the state’s guarantee is “in line” with the government decision, since the appearance of the pandemic last March, to support the SME sector. .
A similar initiative is starting in Senegal. Where Proparco has signed a partnership with Societe Generale Senegal which will allow the deployment of guaranteed loans, up to 5 million euros, under the same terms as in Cameroon. The bank can thus more easily deploy its policy of supporting the economy in the country.
Société Générale awarded in Africa!
In West Africa, AFD supervised the granting of more than 520 million euros to local funds and financial institutions in the form of capital investments, guarantees and lines of credit for the benefit of several thousands of TPE-PME. Several Senegalese entrepreneurs with a strong social impact were also supported by the Agency within the framework of the Social & Inclusive Business Camp or the AFIDBA – AFD for Inclusive & Digital Business in Africa program.
“We are pleased to be able to deploy it in record time, which testifies to the strength of our partnership with Société Générale and our common commitment to help Senegalese entrepreneurs overcome the challenges generated by the crisis” declared Fatoumata Sissoko-sy, Director from Proparco for West Africa.
In addition, the Societe Generale group received the award for Best Commercial Finance Bank in Emerging Markets. This is the second year in a row that the bank has received this award from the Global Finance editorial board.
Above all, on the African continent, Societe Generale received this award for the best trade finance institution in Algeria, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Morocco, Senegal. Societe Generale banks in Algeria, Cameroon and Morocco received awards for the fourth consecutive year. For this new edition, Global Finance Magazine has selected the best global trade finance institutions of the year in 102 countries and eight regions of the United States.
