The objective of the project is to contribute to the improvement of the living conditions of the Guinean populations.

ABIDJAN, Côte d'Ivoire, September 26, 2019/ — The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank (https://www.AfDB.org/) on Tuesday (September 24th) gave the green light to the granting of an US$8 million line of credit to Vista Bank Banking Group in Guinea (Conakry).

This financial support should make it possible to support a dozen small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) microfinance institutions active in the agricultural value chain in Guinea. Priority is given to women, who will benefit from 60% of the resources of this line. Particular attention will therefore be paid to SMEs in rural areas, operating in the sectors of agriculture, livestock and agro-pastoral processing, as well as to young agricultural entrepreneurs.

More than half of the resources of this line of credit are intended for microfinance institutions, partners of Vista Bank and will cover the needs of more than 3,000 microprojects. In addition to financing, Vista Bank will provide entrepreneurs with support in the form of advice, technical support, management and training to maximize the success rate of the operation.

The AfDB's support will also support Vista Bank in capacity building of its agricultural loan officers, risk management, project management, environmental and social management systems, and development results management and reporting.

The objective of the project is to contribute to the improvement of the living conditions of the Guinean populations. The deployment of resources to support SMEs will allow them to access long-term resources and make investments that have hitherto been inaccessible due to a lack of adequate resources.

The project should lead to improving guinea's industrialization rate, thanks in particular to the creation of value chains through the local processing of agricultural products.