To help accelerate and develop African microbusinesses, SMEs, and startups, AFD announced the launch of the "Choose Africa" initiative in Dakar on March 29.
Today, small businesses and startups in Africa play a key role in job creation, economic growth, and innovation on the continent, but lack of financing remains their Achilles heel. To address this issue, the French government has created "Choose Africa," a program developed by AFD through its subsidiary Proparco. It is a €2.5 billion fund intended to finance and support 10,000 small African businesses over a four-year period. €1 billion will be invested in equity in African start-ups, micro-enterprises, and SMEs, and €1.5 billion will be used to facilitate access to credit for small and medium-sized enterprises through local public or private financial institutions.
This initiative thus fulfills the commitments made by the French President in Ouagadougou in 2017 to support and promote entrepreneurship on the African continent.