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Proparco’s European Regional Office: “We want to step up our support for French and European businesses”
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Proparco is opening its European Regional Office to scale up the support it already provides to French and European businesses. Its mission is to identify companies with investment projects in Proparco’s areas of operation and to help them secure financing. This will provide these companies with a dedicated point of contact, closely attuned to their needs. The office also aims to jointly develop new European financing solutions. Fadila Hamdane, who heads up this new Paris-based office, explains how she intends to support the international development of these companies, combining tangible impacts in partner countries with economic benefits for France and for Europe.
Proparco already supports French companies internationally. What else does the new European Regional Office bring?
Fadila Hamdane: We do indeed have a significant volume of business with French companies. Between 2020 and 2025, direct financing for these companies accounted for 15% of Proparco’s business volume. French companies account for 30% of our energy and infrastructure business. In addition to this financing, there are benefits for French subcontractors working locally on the projects in question.
The new office therefore serves to structure and expand an initiative that already exists, while simplifying access to our services. We want to open up more markets to French and European companies and help their businesses to grow.
This objective is in phase with the strategic repositioning of Agence française de développement (AFD) Group, which combines three objectives: tangible impacts for partner countries, benefits for France and Europe, and a sound business model for Proparco and AFD Group to secure the long-term future of their action.
Our new European Regional Office will play a key role in enhancing the benefits for France and the French people, and for Europe more broadly. Aside from the economic benefits, it is also a question of looking after the strategic and diplomatic interests of our country and continent, as well as the international partnerships we are forging.
How do you intend to develop business with French and European stakeholders?
Our first task will be to reach out to companies that are not yet Proparco clients. We will also be approaching investors, funds and financial institutions with the aim of understanding their projects in the countries where we operate and their financing needs, and then working with our teams to develop appropriate responses.
We will start with the company’s needs to identify the most suitable solution from Proparco’s range of tools. This will also require us to innovate and create new mechanisms when existing arrangements are insufficient.
The European Regional Office will serve as the point of entry for all these businesses. It will liaise with Proparco’s operational and sector-specific teams and our international network – as well as with AFD and Expertise France when a given project warrants this. The goal is to make it easier for companies to access the expertise and solutions they need.
You also wish to raise Proparco’s profile within the French ecosystem. To what end?
Reaching out to businesses must go hand in hand with enhanced dialogue with the entire French international investment ecosystem. When a business invests abroad, Proparco provides it not just with financing but with sector-specific expertise, in-depth market knowledge and technical assistance throughout the project. We want to raise awareness of this added value among as many French stakeholders as possible, by demonstrating what we can offer in concrete terms – in which countries and under what conditions.
This institutional dialogue should also provide us with a better understanding of the needs of French companies and help us to take these into account when we are developing our services and partnerships. We will also perform this work at European level.
What can you offer a French company wishing to invest in one of the countries in which Proparco operates?
First, we can finance its project – provided it contributes to the development of the country concerned – through loans, guarantees, Trade Finance instruments or investments.
Our support can also go beyond financing: depending on the project, we can offer technical assistance and draw upon expertise in environmental and social matters, climate change, gender equality, governance and digitalisation.
Our market expertise and international network also enable us to shed light on the specific challenges facing the country and sector in which the company wishes to grow its business. The aim is to combine a financial solution with tailored support that will underpin the project’s robustness and impact.
Your work also extends to supply chains and strategic value chains. In what way?
Direct financing of a French or European company is not our only means of action. We can also identify, finance and showcase projects that help structure more sustainable supply chains for these companies. The benefits can be in the form of stronger supply chains and value chains, even if the companies themselves do not receive the funding directly.
Our work also aims to help these companies ensure the durability of their value chains over time and meet their environmental and social commitments, whether these relate to carbon neutrality pathways, the decarbonisation of their supply chains or the traceability of their supply chains. We are particularly interested in strategic and critical value chains in healthcare, agriculture and agri-food, industry, critical minerals and the digital sector.
What role will you play in shaping the European Union’s future programmes?
This is an integral part of our mission. We aim to contribute to the development of future EU programmes and – on behalf of Proparco – oversee the design of tools capable of supporting the growth of French and European business activity in the countries in which we operate.
Our aim is to ensure that the benefits for European businesses and economies are factored in beginning in the programme design phase. This involves working at an early stage with the institutions and our European partners, and bridging the gap between the needs of businesses, the projects to be financed and the priorities of the countries in which we do business.
So it is not simply a matter of directing businesses towards existing programmes. We also want to help design solutions that will enable them to develop new projects, with benefits for partner countries as well as for France and for Europe.