By VINCENT OWINO More by this AuthorSmall and medium enterprises in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and 23 other African countries will soon be able to access cheaper, unsecured loans from Ecobank after it signed a new $200 million risk-sharing deal with African Guarantee Fund (AGF). Read: SMEs in Africa take more loans as global peers wean off debtEcobank projects that its loans under the program could be slightly shy of $1 billion across the 27 countries over the next five years. Advertisement“Through this partnership, we are taking bold steps to enhance green financing and gender financing. “This partnership will catalyse close to $1 billion of financing for SMEs, who are the real drivers of growth in African economies,” said AGF CEO Jules Ngankam. The risk-sharing deal between the Lomé -headquartered banking conglomerate and AGF started in 2013, covering 7 countries with just $50 million of the bank’s portfolio covered.

Source: Daily Nation November 18, 2023 14:19 UTC