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This new edition of the KEY POINTS brochure presents the main expected impact results of a scope of 75 new financings signed by Proparco in 2021. It also shows their expected contribution to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The last section focuses on the actual impacts of our projects, in line with our ex-ante estimates. This summary brochure has been produced before the publication of the full Sustainabie Development Report, which will be available soon.

This is the story of Cissé Abdoul Aziz, a scientist who discovered his entrepreneurial spirit. He tells the story of the creation of his company, Afribacom, which employs 30 permanent staff, and why he turned to Cofina, a partner of Choose Africa, for financial support. At the height of the Covid-19 crisis, Cofina also supported Afribacom.

Enda has been the leading microfinance institution in Tunisia and the Arab world since 1995, by demonstrating that microcredit is a powerful driver for poverty reduction and economic development. Today, it offers a range of customized products that contribute to the financial empowerment of marginalized populations, especially women. It offers free non-financial services (support, training, awareness-raising workshops…), while continuing its microcredit activity for entrepreneurs.

Supporting responsible microfinance in rural areas in Morocco

Enabling women to become actors of social and economic change in Pakistan is the number one objective of the Kashf Foundation, which has specialized in microfinance for more than 20 years. In 2017, Proparco granted Kashf a $5 million loan to help it continue to play its key role reducing inequalities in the country.

In recent years, the concept of social business has emerged as a middle road between philanthropy and the pursuit of maximum profit. The idea is rooted in a dual realization: on the one hand, governments and civil society are striving – especially in poor countries – to resolve problems such as food insecurity and insufficient access to healthcare, water, energy and adequate housing. On the other, the principle of maximizing profits is showing its limitations by intensifying pressure on resources, contributing to global warming and widening social inequality.

The overarching virtue of microfinance is that in recent years it has managed to demonstrate that it is not only possible and necessary to implement services tailored to the poorest – it can also be profitable. Indeed, to quote the “Bottom of the Pyramid” concept coined by the economists S.L. Hart and C.K. Prahalad, moving into the market of lowincome populations – and serving them – may constitute “the biggest business opportunity in the history of commerce” and at the same time helps combat poverty. Microfinance would seem to embody this concept.