The COFINA Group is pleased to announce the recent conclusion of a partnership with the Dutch Development Finance Company (FMO), for a total amount of 12.5 million euros. This amount is dedicated to financing customers of Cofina subsidiaries in Senegal (7.5 million euros) and in Côte d'Ivoire (5 million euros).

This partnership allows the COFINA Group to strengthen its position in African mesofinance and thus continue to facilitate access to credit for a large number of SMEs. This financing is accompanied by an offer of technical assistance in an area of the utmost importance: the strengthening of corporate governance, but also the strengthening of the risk management system. On the other hand, FMO accentuates through this collaboration its presence among the financial institutions of French-speaking Africa. The MASSIF investment fund – managed by FMO – which is at the origin of this partnership thus reiterates its mission of supporting financial inclusion in developing countries.

In this period of great uncertainty linked to Covid-19, this collaboration underlines the confidence that the partners of the COFINA Group place in it, in particular on the part of a leading international financial institution such as FMO.

Huib-Jan de Ruijter, Director of Financial Institutions at FMO, said: “We are proud to support COFINA, one of the few African mesofinance groups that was born on the continent and is growing to support its people. First in Senegal but also in Ivory Coast. These transactions are perfectly in line with FMO's approach to establishing solid relationships with groups of Microfinance Institutions in French-speaking Africa. COFINA has shown a strong desire to grow and understands how financial inclusion can have a real impact. We look forward to our collaboration”.

Hervé Serge NDAKPRI, Finance Director at COFINA, emphasizes: “We are delighted with the signature of this partnership with FMO. This funding will enable us to strengthen our role as a mesofinance institution in Senegal and Côte d'Ivoire at the service of financial inclusion. It is also a mark of confidence from a leading international financial partner, which recognizes through this significant financing, the solidity of the COFINA Group and the impact that we have on a daily basis on entrepreneurs, VSEs and SMEs. We are already working on the next steps of our collaboration.”

About COFINA

Founded in 2013, the COFINA Group is the first African financial institution dedicated to mesofinance, the "missing link" between microfinance and traditional banking which offers the possibility for African SMEs (90% of private companies on the continent) to access easier on credit. Present in seven African countries (Burkina Faso, Congo-Brazzaville, Ivory Coast, Gabon, Guinea Conakry, Mali, Senegal) and with a representative office in Paris dedicated to the diaspora, COFINA has already financed more than 85,000 business projects, 48% of which are carried out by women entrepreneurs. COFINA has established itself in recent years as the reference in terms of financing small and medium-sized enterprises in West and Central Africa. COFINA has set itself the challenge of reducing the financial divide suffered by a large part of the new African middle class. With more than 1,300 employees, COFINA manages a portfolio of more than 175,000 clients and 85,000 financed business projects, spread over its seven countries. As of December 31, 2019, the institution had a total balance sheet of 212 billion CFA francs.

About FMO

FMO is the Dutch development bank that promotes sustainable private sector growth in developing countries by investing in ambitious projects. FMO believes that a strong private sector is key to economic and social development, and has a proven track record for nearly 50 years of empowering people to use their skills and improve their quality of life. . FMO focuses on three sectors that have a strong impact on development: financial institutions, energy and agribusiness, food and water. With a portfolio of €9.7 billion, FMO, which covers more than 85 countries, is one of the largest bilateral private sector development banks globally.