African Guarantee Fund signed a 50 million Euros loan portfolio guarantee with BGFIBank Group. The guarantee line will go towards covering loans allocated to SMEs.

With a footprint spanning across several financial businesses and a strong Pan-African presence through its various subsidiaries, this new agreement will enable BGFIBank to accelerate SME financing and enhance the development of African economies.

The partnership agreement was signed by Mr. Jules NGANKAM, Group CEO of African Guarantee Fund and Mr. Henri-Claude OYIMA, Chairman and Managing Director of the BGFIBank Group, in the presence of BGFIBank Group’s top management and AGF Group.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, Mr. Jules NGANKAM, recognized the strengthening of the partnership between the two institutions, in their efforts towards enhancing SME financing in Africa. “AGF and BGFIBank Group have been working together for eight years and this new agreement shows our willingness to continue to support SMEs, major actors of job creation in Africa. Furthermore, we consider women’s entrepreneurship as a pillar of economic growth. Thus, thanks to the AFAWA Guarantee for Growth program, implemented by AGF in partnership with African Development Bank (AfDB), subsidiaries of the BGFIBank Group will support SMEs led by female entrepreneurs with more advantageous conditions, “ declared Mr. NGANKAM.

On his part, Mr. Henri-Claude OYIMA said, “For the BGFIBank Group, this partnership is in line with the ambitions of DYNAMIQUE 2025, our Enterprise project, which advocates for, among other things, financial inclusion, which involves increasing the SME segment in the overall loan portfolio. As a vector of development and added value for the African continent, the growth of a solid and prosperous SME fabric constitutes an opportunity for us, and inevitably requires the implementation of synergies between reference partners in order to overcome the challenges posed by the financing of this specific clientele. The partnership we are entering into today with AGF opens a new era in many respects.”