African Guarantee Fund moves to address funding challenges for SMEs

The African Guarantee Fund (AGF), and the Nordic Development Fund (NDF), is fostering collaboration with the banks to address financial needs of the Small and Medium Enterprise (SMEs) across sectors in Africa.

AGF is a specialised Guarantee provider whose mission is to facilitate economic development and poverty reduction in Africa.

The Fund is collaborating with the Nordic Development Fund (NDF), to host the 9th Edition of the Green Finance Conference and Trainings for four days, starting from Tuesday in Lagos.

The Green Finance conference, organised by AGF and sponsored by NDF, is a crucial response to the challenges posed by climate change within the framework of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). With a focus on providing enhanced expertise to African countries, the conference aims to facilitate increased financing for low-carbon development.

The conference holds paramount significance for financial institutions as it realistically analyses existing opportunities and proposes practical solutions to address financing for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) committed to green growth and climate-resilient development.

Previous Green Finance conferences and trainings have been held in Zambia, Kenya, Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal, Benin, Mozambique, and Malawi. Building on this success, the 9th Edition promises to be an enlightening and impactful event.

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The event includes a specialised 3-day Green Finance Training for senior executives of financial institutions. Tailored to equip financial leaders with the tools and knowledge necessary to navigate the evolving landscape of sustainable finance, this training will focus on credit risk and product development in the context of Green Finance.

Franck Adjagba, AGF Group director of business development, said, ‘‘we are establishing a significant collaboration with banks to secure funding for environmentally friendly micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in Nigeria. The goal is to ease the financial support for green businesses in the country. Nigeria plays a pivotal role in global climate discussions and contributes significantly to shaping AGF’s objectives of enabling the country tailor its strategies towards global discourse on climate-related matters.’’

The upcoming Green Finance conference and Training, spanning four days, promises a dynamic gathering of key stakeholders, including Government representatives, Development Financial Institutions, CEOs, NGOs, and Green SMEs. This collaborative platform will discuss financing challenges and opportunities for Green SME projects, offering a rich environment for innovation and insight.

AGF increases access to finance for SMEs across key economic sectors through its guarantee products and capacity development assistance. Since its inception, AGF has issued a guarantee portfolio of approximately USD 1.9 billion, unlocking more than USD 3.5 billion in SME financing, through partnerships with 200 partner financial institutions in 40 African countries.

The Nordic Development Fund is a joint multilateral development finance institution for Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden.

Hope Moses-Ashike

Hope Moses-Ashike is an Associate Editor, Banking and Finance, with more than a decade of experience reporting on Nigeria’s financial system and broader economy. She closely tracks market movements, monetary policy decisions, company disclosures, regulatory actions, economic indicators, and global developments, and interprets what they mean for businesses, investors, policymakers, and households. Her reporting helps readers understand complex issues such as inflation trends, foreign exchange market dynamics, interest rate decisions, bank performance, and investment risks. She also covers major international events and periodically travels to Washington, D.C., to report on the World Bank/IMF Spring and Annual Meetings. Her dedication to financial journalism has earned her multiple recognitions and invitations to high-level professional development programmes. She is an alumna of the International Visitors Leadership Programme (IVLP) in the United States and holds an Advanced Financial Journalism Certificate from the Press Association Training in London, UK. Her other notable achievements include completing the Lagos Business School CMC Programme, the Bloomberg Media Africa Initiative Programme, and a Master Class in Journalism at Rhodes University in South Africa.