The African Guarantee Fund for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (AGF) has today signed a Master Portfolio Guarantee amounting to USD 50 million with Ecobank Transnational Incorporation (ETI). The signing ceremony that took place at ETI’s Head quarter was officiated by Mr. Felix BIKPO, CEO of the African Guarantee Fund, and Mr. Ade ADEYEMI, Ecobank’s Group CEO.

While speaking at the signing ceremony, Mr. BIKPO said “Today’s renewed partnership with ETI is evidence that AGF is committed to listening to the needs of our clients and providing the right products and services.” He further emphasized that AGF’s key agenda of fostering economic growth across the continent through the SME sector, will certainly be achieved by the collaboration between a pan-African guarantee fund and a pan-African bank.

The new guarantee will enable the bank to leverage it at least twice , making at minimum USD 100 million available for SME lending. When fully utilized, the new facility will supplement the social impacts generated by the previous guarantee by benefiting an additional 950 SMEs, who are expected to generate over USD 350 million in revenue, and directly create about 10,000 additional jobs in the economies where the bank operates.

AGF’s AA- rating was recently reconfirmed by Fitch Ratings with a stable outlook. This will bring a strong comfort to AGF partner lending institutions when complying with IFRS9 and Basel II & III requirements.

AGF is currently working with over 100 financial institutions across 38 African countries.