Meeting the financing needs of Ivorian SMEs affected by the Covid-19 crisis

Ecobank Group is one of the main pan-African banking groups. The bank came about through the will of African businessmen to establish a bank to support Africa’s economic growth. The bank started its activities by opening a first subsidiary in Togo in 1988. It subsequently developed in West Africa in the 1990s, with the opening of subsidiaries in Nigeria, Benin, Ghana and Burkina Faso.

Proparco has signed a partnership with Ecobank RCI, on behalf of AFD, under the Choose Africa Resilience program. The objective is to allow Ecobank RCI to offer up to XOF 1,180,722,600 (EUR 1.8m) of emergency loans to small and medium-sized enterprises affected by the economic consequences caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Once the financing requests have been examined by Ecobank RCI, companies with less than 250 employees affected by the pandemic may be allocated loans with maturities ranging between 12 and 60 months. This countercyclical solution will allow Ecobank RCI to maintain financing flows to SMEs, the central link in Côte d'Ivoire’s economy.