Proparco, the French Development Agency’s private sector financing arm, and First City Monument Bank (FCMB) have signed a N2 billion risk-sharing facility agreement, which will cover up to N4 billion worth of loans granted by FCMB to Nigerian micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs).
MSMEs represent 96 percent of all businesses in Nigeria, testifying to their critical role for the Nigerian economy. However, most SMEs still lack access to appropriate sources of financing needed to develop their activity, a statement by Claude Abily, political/ press counselor of Embassy of France in Nigeria, said.
Created in 1982, FCMB currently ranks among Nigeria’s top 10 banks. As part of its growth strategy, FCMB eyes supporting SMEs through tailored products and services to entrepreneurs.
Proparco’s support will help FCMB extend its financing to a greater number of SMEs in Nigeria. It is estimated that this risk-sharing facility agreement could support close to 245 MSMEs in the country and contribute to create or maintain more than 440 jobs, the statement said.
“This is Proparco’s second operation with FCMB. In 2012, Proparco granted a $25 million loan to the Nigerian bank in order to support the bank’s lending activity to the infrastructure sector,” the statement further said.
This project contributes to the French initiative ‘Choose Africa’, launched by the AFD Group in 2019, which ambitions to dedicate €2.5Bn to accelerate the growth of MSMEs in Africa by 2022.
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