British International Investment (BII), a development finance institution, has announced a loan to support micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprise (MSME) growth in Côte d’Ivoire alongside advancing gender finance
The EU€14mn loan (approx. US$15.3mn) will be provided to COFINA Côte d’Ivoire, a specialist meso-finance lender, enabling it to provide additional loans to MSMEs in the country.
Sié Amed Touré, managing director of COFINA Côte d’Ivoire, remarked, “We are delighted to have reached this financing agreement with BII which will strengthen our role as a meso-finance institution promoting financial inclusion, particularly for women entrepreneurs. By facilitating access to financing for MSMEs, we are pursuing our mission of creating more value for our partners and continuing to participate sustainably in the development of our continent.”
Stephen Priestley, managing director and head of financial services for BII, added, “Inclusion is a priority for BII, and in particular improving access to finance for underserved groups. We have seen the benefits of improved financial inclusion on bolstering economic development because it enables more people with access to economic opportunities.
“We are delighted to partner with COFINA which is focused on financing those SMEs that are too small to be served by banks, and on delivering our shared ambitions to empower underserved groups including women and celebrate entrepreneurship in Côte d’Ivoire. This marks our first direct financial services transaction in Francophone West Africa and we look forward to scaling our investments in the region.”
At the end of 2023, loans were also provided to the country to improve access to finance for SMEs. Click here to discover the full story.
