SONIBANK is the leading bank in Niger in terms of the size of its balance sheet. It mainly works with private enterprises (SMEs, individual companies, large corporates). The bank has been experiencing growth since 2013 and wants to strengthen its presence in the territory and expand in the region (opening of a branch in Cotonou and plan to set up in Lom\u00e9).<\/p>\n
It is Proparco\u2019s first loan to the banking sector in Niger.
\nThis EUR 10m loan will allow SONIBANK to extend the maturity of its resources in order to meet the medium and long-term credit demand of its clients and thereby support the country\u2019s SMEs and SMIs.<\/p>\n
This financing demonstrates Proparco\u2019s commitment to support the private sector in developing countries, and in particular fragile countries, with the aim of earmarking EUR 1bn for them between 2017 and 2020.
\nIt also demonstrates AFD Group\u2019s strong ambition to scale up its support to African small and medium-sized enterprises, which materialized in March 2019 with the launch of the French Choose Africa initiative to speed up the growth of start-ups, microenterprises and SMEs in Africa.<\/p>\n