The Moroccan group Attijariwafa Bank and the African Guarantee Fund group, a major fund in Africa, have signed a memorandum of understanding, on the sidelines of the Global Gender Summit, which is taking place from 25 to 27 November in Kigali, Rwanda.
This agreement will enable the Attijariwafa Bank group to support female entrepreneurs with portfolio guarantees on the one hand, and to provide technical support, in partnership with the African Guarantee Fund, to SMEs in all countries where the group is present, on the other hand, the Moroccan group said in a statement released on Wednesday.
According to Attijariwafa Bank CEO, Mohamed El Kettani, the signing of this memorandum is the realization of a strong partnership between two major groups, deeply involved in the development of Africa. “Our Group has always supported entrepreneurs, especially entrepreneurial women who are strongly committed to our African societies,” he said.
“The African Guarantee Fund, as a major player in supporting African SMEs, is the ideal partner to further develop our assistance for women’s entrepreneurship in Africa,” he added.
For his part, the Managing Director of the African Guarantee Fund group, Felix Bikpo, said that this MoU is the expression of the strong will of the African Guarantee Fund group to support African SMEs.
Its financing is all the more important, knowing the role it plays in African economies. “We are already working with Attijariwafa Bank and are pleased to see the expansion of this partnership to other countries,” he said.
Attijariwafa bank is the first group in the Maghreb and the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA) region and a key player in the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa (CEMAC).
With more than 20,000 employees, the group is present in 25 countries outside Morocco, including 14 African countries; it has nearly ten million customers.
The group has the largest distribution network in Morocco and the densest in Africa, with 5,024 branches. Since 2010, Attijariwafa bank has invested more than US$1 billion on the African continent.
HA/fss/abj/APA