Mobilitas continues to grow and diversify in Africa, with renewed support from Proparco
published on 17 July 2024
Mobilitas, a major player in international mobility, physical and digital records management, and heritage conservation, restoration and digitization, has been a partner of Proparco for 10 years, and has just obtained a new €20 million senior loan to support the development of its activities in Africa and the French overseas territories.
Founded in 1974 by André and Sarah Taïeb, Mobilitas is a family business with a turnover of almost €550 million and 5,740 employees working in 205 subsidiaries in 102 countries.
Mobilitas went through a phase of significant expansion in the historic business of international removals, notably via its Africa 54 plan, which was completed in 2016, making the company the leading private player present in all 54 African countries. Since 2017, the company has diversified its business into the physical and digital records management sectors, as well as the digitization of heritage works.
The €20 million loan from Proparco will enable Mobilitas to further accelerate its growth, including on the African continent, and to strengthen its presence on the continent, especially via the construction of ultramodern sites in Mozambique, Ghana, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, but also in New Caledonia, and thanks to acquisitions of records management companies in Zambia, Côte d’Ivoire and Morocco.
This operation is the third collaboration between Proparco and Mobilitas. It is in line with the two previous operations, which supported Mobilitas in the deployment of its Africa 54 plan (€15 million loan in 2014), then strengthened the development of its African activities in the moving and records management sectors (€8 million loan in 2018).
In addition to its contribution to sustainable and resilient development, this new financing is also eligible under the 2X Challenge, the initiative led by numerous development finance institutions and multilateral development banks in promoting the empowerment of women’s economic role in their countries of involvement. Mobilitas is strongly committed to gender equality, with a high proportion of women in its corporate governance (30% on the Supervisory Board) and across all business units (40% of the Group’s workforce, including 30% in management positions). The Group has also introduced specific procedures to fight discrimination and gender-based violence in order to protect female staff.
“Proparco has been supporting and financing our development projects in Africa and the French overseas territories for the past 10 years. They have become a key partner for the sustainability of our projects in these parts of the world,” confirms Cédric Castro, Chairman of the Management Board of Mobilitas. “Mobilitas and Proparco share the same vision and values on the issues of equity and diversity.”
“Mobilitas is a long-standing partner for us,” says Françoise Lombard, Managing Director of Proparco. “We are very pleased to support their growth in Africa through this third loan, and especially since this French group is fully committed to the fight against gender inequality, a priority concern for Proparco.”
The project will contribute to Sustainable Development Goals #5 (Gender Equality) and #8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth).
