On the sidelines of the Global Gender Summit which took place in Kigali, African Guarantee Fund and Attijariwafa Bank signed a Memorandum of understanding to increase the financing of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) in Africa. This agreement will on one side enable Attijariwafa bank group to support women entrepreneurs through AGF’s portfolio guarantees and will on the other hand provide technical support to SMEs across all countries where the Banking group is present.

The agreement was signed by Mr. Hicham Fadili, Director of Business Development, International Retail Banking and Mr. Jules Ngankam, Deputy Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer of the African Guarantee Fund Group.

Commenting on the signing ceremony, Mr. Mohamed El Kettani, Chairman and CEO of the Attijariwafa bank group said: “The signing of this Memorandum is the proof of a strong partnership between two large groups immensely involved in the development of Africa. Our Group has always supported entrepreneurs, and in particular women entrepreneurs who are strongly committed to our African communities”.

“In this same light, our bank has also signed an agreement with the African Development Bank and four other African associations working with women entrepreneurs, for the promotion of the SUFAWE initiative (Stand Up For African Women Entrepreneurs), during the International Africa Development Forum”.

“African Guarantee Fund, as a major player in supporting African SMEs, is the ideal partner to further develop our support for female entrepreneurship in the continent” he added.

Mr. Felix Bikpo, Group Chief Executive Officer of the African Guarantee Fund group stated, “The signing of this MoU is the expression of the strong commitment of African Guarantee Fund group towards supporting African SMEs. SME funding is of great importance, given the role they play within our African economies. We have already partnered with Attijariwafa Bank Group in the past and we are happy to see the extension of this partnership in other countries.”