Germany $33m to guarantee Africa
 |
| Angela Merkel, Germany Chancellor |
This new financing comes at a
time when the continent's SME sector has been singled out as a key driver of
growth. This now places AGF firmly on the driver’s seat as the champion that
eases access to financing for SMEs across the continent.
“We are excited about the
confidence our shareholders and partners have in what we are doing in Africa.
This capital injection will go a long way in ensuring that we continue to make
a positive impact in the continent. So far, we have cumulatively issued more
than $1bn worth of guarantees making available about $1.7bn for SME financing
through our partner financial Institutions. This has led to the creation of
more than 100,000 additional jobs,” said Felix Bikpo, Group CEO, African
Guarantee Fund.
Out of the 20,000 African SMEs
from various economic sectors that have so far benefited from AGF guarantees,
the institution is very proud that 60% are owned by youth who are the majority
in Africa today, and 30% owned by women, both being demographics that heavily
impact Africa’s economy.
“Our experience traversing Africa
has shown us that Africa women are tenacious entrepreneurs, even though they
face a gender financing gap of $42bn. The capital increase from KfW will
largely be used to increase financing of women-owned-or-led businesses. This is
in addition to our partnership with the African Development Bank through the
recently launched Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa (AFAWA) which
currently has a $251m commitment from G7 countries,” he concluded.
Comments
Post a Comment