Equity Group’s Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) unit has signed a deal with Proparco that will see the French financier provide up to €10 million (Sh1.55 billion) guarantee for loans to small businesses in the central African country.
Proparco, a private sector arm of Agence Française de Développement (AFD Group), made the announcement last week, making it the second guarantee scheme with Equity BCDC which is 84.1 percent owned by Equity Group.
The guarantee scheme is a risk-sharing deal aimed at helping Equity BCDC expand its financing options, particularly for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), including those owned by women and youth.
“Thanks to this guarantee, Equity BCDC will continue to increase its financing in favour of high-impact SMEs, particularly those owned by women and young adults, in line with Proparco’s new 2023-2027 strategy,” said Proparco.
Proparco in March last year also inked a similar deal christened ‘Choose Africa Resilience’ portfolio guarantee to support Congolese SMEs hit by Covid-19 and hopes the latest deal will cover more small firms.
Equity BCDC’s profit after tax grew by 45 percent to Sh5.8 billion in the year ended December 2022, extending its lead as Equity’s most profitable subsidiary followed by the Rwandan unit with Sh2.8 billion.
