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Helping Advans Cameroun finance entrepreneurs

Project

Financial services
Signature date
Location
Cameroon
Financing tool
Guarantee
Financing amount (Euro)
2000000
Financing details
XAF 1,311,914,000 guarantee
Customer
Advans Cameroun
Type of customer
Financial institution
Country of headquarters
Cameroon
Project number
CCM1833
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This project is part of the 2X Challenge initiative.
Mention 2X Challenge UK

This information is given at the time of signature, without prejudice to any developments in the operation/project.

Proparco is continuing to support a key microfinance player in Cameroon, Advans. The ARIZ portfolio guarantee will help Advans Cameroun develop its lending activity in the country’s rural areas, especially for the agriculture sector, through support to smallholder farmers.

Client presentation

Advans Cameroun is a financial institution licensed as a Microfinance Institution and began its operations in 2007. Its mission is to provide financial services that meet the needs of craftspeople, traders, entrepreneurs and their families, as well as small and medium-sized enterprises in Cameroon, in a sustainable and responsible manner. It offers a wide range of services: loans, deposits, transfers and ATM cards. 

Advans Cameroun’s shareholders include its parent company Advans SA SICAR (89.1%) and Société Générale Cameroun (10.9%). Mrs. Mamie Kalonda has been its CEO since 2023. 

With a portfolio of 62,000 clients at year-end 2022, a gross loan portfolio equivalent to EUR 54m and a deposit portfolio of EUR 42m, Advans is a leader in the microfinance sector in Cameroon.

Project description

The ARIZ SME guarantee consists of a risk sub-participation of FCFA 1.3bn (EUR 2m). It aims to help Advans Cameroun develop its lending activity in the country’s rural areas, especially in the agriculture sector, through support to smallholder farmers.

Advans Cameroun aims to double the volume of its agriculture portfolio by 2025, mainly by targeting sectors that make a major contribution to food security (corn and broilers). The project is part of the Food & Agriculture Resilience Mission (FARM) initiative, launched by French President Emmanuel Macron in 2022, alongside the European Union, the G7 and the African Union, which aims to strengthen food security.

Project impact

The impacts are:

  • 1,468 jobs created and maintained
  • Access to financial inclusion for 564 beneficiaries
  • EUR 2.5m of investments supported in the private sector  

The project contributes to the following Sustainable Development Goals: n° 2 (“End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture”), n° 5 (“Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls”), through Advans Cameroun’s strong commitment to MSMEs managed by women, and n° 8 (“Promote inclusive and sustainable economic growth, employment and decent work for all”).