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Proparco signs its first operation in Botswana
Proparco, the French Development Agency’s private sector financing arm, has concluded a US$10 million Tier II long-term debt financing with African Banking Corporation Botswana (“BancABC Botswana”) to...
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A perspective on SME Financing in Africa
SMEs may account for the bulk of firms and employment in SSA, yet they contribute very little to GDP. This is partly due to the financing constraints they meet. However, these firms have considerable...
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Financing SMEs in a context of strong information asymmetry
The acuteness of information asymmetries between bankers and entrepreneurs, which cannot be offset by adequate loan securitization, constitutes one of the main stumbling blocks to SME financing in SSA...
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Credit to the Private Sector in Sub-Saharan Africa: Developments and Issues
Despite signs of progress, SSA is still lagging compared to other regions when it comes to scaling up the volume of loans allocated to the private sector. If it is to catch up, some progress needs to...
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AGRIF
AgRIF is an investment fund managed by Incofin. It mainly targets financial intermediaries whose clients are smallholders, microenterprises and SMEs established in rural areas in developing countries...
Project
Bank financing to SMEs: what are Africa's specificities?
Using bank survey data, this article compares the scale and type of bank lending to SMEs in Africa to that available outside the region. The data shows that bank financing to SMEs in Africa is less si...
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Rethingking finance for Africa's small firms
African banks had just started to show interest in SMEs when the global crisis reversed the tide. The risk for SMEs is that they will suddenly be barred access to credit whereas they need long-term f...
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Tapping into the private sector for food system transformation
To attain SDG 2 (Zero Hunger), sustainable food systems – including small-scale farming, agri-SMEs, and local food processing – will require structured development. This necessitates private engagemen...
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Proparco’s Trade Finance Programme: a concrete solution to supply challenges
Financing international trade through the banking system is essential to facilitating trade between countries. While this type of financing is readily available in developed economies, certain Souther...
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Public policies, essential to the development of agri-food sectors
In sub-Saharan Africa, the development of high-performance agri-food chains will be contingent on stronger smallholder farms. Training, advice, financing of agriculture, supply chain structuring and c...
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Towards food security in Yemen: HSA Group in concert with the UN, DFIs and international NGOs
Against a background of conflict and widespread food insecurity in Yemen, the country’s HSA Group continues to work in partnership with UN agencies, DFIs and international NGOs. HSA Group’s work with...
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Food systems to nourish the fastest-growing population
Nourishing the world’s fastest-growing population worldwide will involve transforming its food systems to enable food supply. Expanding Africa’s food basket will serve both nutrition and resilience ob...
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To impact food security, investors must understand farmers’ resilience to climate change
In recent years, unprecedented shocks - climate change, Covid-19 and supply chain disruptions - have changed the trajectory of progress on global food security. Acute food insecurity increased by 33 p...
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Farm Credit Armenia, a finance cooperative for food security
FCA is Armenia’s sole agricultural credit cooperative. It supports – with the aid of an AFD Group 1.5 m euro loan – its clients, the members, owners, participants, and beneficiaries of the cooperative...
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Placing contract farming in the service of development, food security and equality
The 2022 Global Report on Food Crises estimates that at least one in five Africans goes to bed hungry, and an estimated 140 million people in Africa face acute food insecurity. The Horn of Africa, in...
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AKFED
The Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development is an international agency which supports the private sector in development countries. Proparco is more specifically supporting the fund’s work in Africa, th...
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Financing a sustainable future: de-risking innovation through food systems investing
Faced with the negative-dominant impacts of food production, opportunities in sustainable food businesses need to be aligned with the capital available for transformation. To achieve this, they must b...
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Rio de Janeiro deepens engagement in global climate action
As the site of the ’Rio Declaration’ and host of the G20 Summit in 2024, Rio de Janeiro has embraced international objectives with its Plan for Sustainable Development and Climate Action. Two core ini...
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Channelling private sector investment into sustainable urban planning
Cities are critical players in the deployment of inclusive and sustainable public policies. If they are to provide their growing populations with the economic, social and cultural services and resourc...
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The key role of private players in providing access to affordable housing in South Africa
South Africa’s private sector participates in real estate projects that provide low-cost, sustainable housing for the poorest sections of the population and for students. These building programmes red...
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