Proparco and Ecobank Group have signed a €10m trade finance guarantee for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) in Africa.

In a statement made available to The PUNCH on Thursday, the partners said the trade agreement was signed on the first day of the Africa Financial Summit 2025.

The €10m trade finance guarantee facility was signed for Ecobank Chad to facilitate imports of raw materials essential for creating added value in the country.

The programme addresses supply needs not covered by the local market and is part of the Food & Agriculture Resilience Mission (FARM) initiative launched in 2022 by France, together with the European Union, the G7, and the African Union. Its objective is to strengthen food security in the most vulnerable countries.

This guarantee is also part of the Choose Africa programme run by the AFD Group (Agence Française de Développement, Proparco, and Expertise France), which provides financing solutions to small African businesses, start-ups, micro-enterprises, and MSMEs, supporting them through the various stages of their growth via local partners backed by the AFD Group.

Speaking on the agreement, the Ecobank Group Chief Executive Officer, Jeremy Awori, said, “This renewed partnership with Proparco reflects our shared commitment to strengthening the economic resilience of Chad and the wider region, contributing to the implementation of Chad’s new National Development Plan.

“By facilitating access to essential raw materials, we are supporting local industrialisation, food security, and value creation on the continent. Using the combined expertise of our pan-African network and Ecobank International in France, we will continue to support our customers by facilitating trade and strengthening risk management to build sustainable growth.”

Proparco Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Djalal Khimdjee, commented, “We are very pleased to welcome Ecobank Chad to the Trade Finance programme that we have co-developed with the Ecobank Group since 2018. This new partnership will benefit local businesses, enabling them to import raw materials and become part of the international value chain to better meet the needs of local communities. This transaction brings the total volume of trade finance guarantees granted to the Ecobank Group since 2018 to €125m.”