This is the story of Vusi Macheke who tells his proudness being an entrepreneuri and an owner of about 20 taxis, in partnership with SA TAXI. He explains his challenges against the Covid-19 crisis. A micro-entrepreneur beneficiary from Choose Africa.

The taxi industry is a key sector in transport in South Africa, which depends on one million people. Between 2018 and 2020, Proparco commited €8 million of loan and provided €100,000 in technical assistance to support the implementation of protective measures for drivers and users of minibus taxis during the Covid-19 health crisis. Proparco supports SA TAXI in financing and developing taxi micro-entrepreneurs. SA TAXI is a partner of Choose Africa.

To strengthen Africa’s vaccine and pharmaceutical development and to accelerate the continent’s recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), Proparco, the German Development Finance Institution (DEG) and the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) today announced a partnership to support vaccine manufacturing in Africa.

To support the development of vaccines for African countries, Proparco, IFC, DEG - the German development finance institution, and the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) today announced a joint financing package for Aspen Pharmacare Holdings Limited, a leading pharmaceutical company in South Africa that is playing a major role producing COVID-19 treatment therapies and vaccines on the African continent.

Proparco is pleased to announce its participation, alongside Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) and Eastern and Southern African Trade and Development Bank (TDB), as anchor investors in Ecobank’s USD 400 million Sub-Saharan African bond issuance.

Proparco, on behalf of AFD Group, has provided a $100 million climate finance-dedicated credit facility to FirstRand Bank Limited (FRB). This new transaction between the AFD Group and FirstRand Bank comes less than a year after the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding during COP26 between the two parties, agreeing to join forces to support the scaling of climate financing in South Africa, and in support of climate change adaptation and mitigation.

At COP28, Proparco announced a renewed commitment to Investec, a leading South African bank committed to sustainability, by granting it a €500,000 euro technical advisory facility. This new agreement, signed a few months after Proparco provided Investec with an $80 million loan to support its climate investments, marks AFD Group's determination to continue implementing the Transforming Financial Systems for Climate (TFSC) programme in South Africa.

Proparco is providing a €2 million ARIZ PRIME portfolio guarantee to the ASISA ESD Fund (comprising the ASISA Enterprise Development (ED) Fund and the ASISA Supplier Development (SD) Fund), managed by the fund manager, Edge Growth Ventures (Pty) Ltd (Edge Growth Ventures), a subsidiary of the Edge Growth Group (Edge Growth).

The ASISA ESD Fund targets the expansion and growth of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in South Africa, particularly those owned by people from historically disadvantaged backgrounds, and which have the potential to create positive and sustainable social and environmental impacts.

Proparco's Trade Finance Guarantee Program is broadening its scope across Africa. FirstRand Bank (FRB) becomes the first Southern African bank to join Proparco’s Trade Finance program as a confirming bank. This partnership will enable FRB’s corporate and investment (CIB) business Rand Merchant Bank (RMB) to further strengthen its confirmation capabilities through Proparco’s network of issuing banks, ultimately increasing its import capacity and promoting intra-African trade.

• Consortium of nine development partners to support Biovac’s expansion of its existing vaccine manufacturing plant capacity, and enable the production of Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine and other vaccines.
• Biovac to raise around $150 million (ZAR2.3 billion) to boost increased local vaccine manufacturing capacity across the African continent.
• Partners include AfDB, CDC Group, DEG, DFC, EIB, IFC, Proparco, the European Union Delegation to South Africa, and the Industrial Development Corporation of South Africa (IDC).

In South Africa, Proparco, on behalf of AFD Group, has provided a $100 million climate finance-dedicated credit facility to FirstRand Bank Limited (FRB). Details with Tessa Macnab, Investment Officer at Proparco.Learn more

Geographical coverage: Southern Africa and the Indian Ocean

These regional offices for Southern Africa and the Indian Ocean were opened in 1994. They cover: South Africa, Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

This USD 50 million loan is part of a USD 100 million financing syndicated by the German development finance institution DEG.

We asked our clients how Proparco support their work in Southern Africa

Proparco and 27four, a South African investment manager, lead R550m investment in Divercity Urban Property Group alongside reinvestment from its existing shareholders. The investment is intended to fund portfolio growth and balance sheet optimization.

Proparco is collaborating with South Africa's third largest bank by assets, Absa Bank Limited, by granting it a senior loan of $20 million to contribute to its support plan for Corporate SMEs in the context of the continuing Covid-19 crisis.