Equity Bank has signed a trade credit financing agreement with BpiFrance, the public investment bank of France, to strengthen support for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) across Kenya and the broader East African region.
The partnership was signed and unveiled during French Week 2024, jointly organized by the French Chamber of Commerce and the French Embassy in Kenya, which culminated in the business networking event, ‘Inspire and Connect East Africa’.
The partnership will provide SME investors with financing options in both US dollars and Kenya shillings, enabling them to scale their operations across the six countries where Equity operates.
Dr. James Mwangi, Equity Group Managing Director and CEO, highlighted the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)’s significance in bridging the financing gap for SMEs and fostering trade links between Kenya, France and Europe at large.
“This agreement creates a bridge between Equity and France to facilitate trade between Europe and Africa, empowering SMEs to expand and transition into large enterprises and corporates.
“There is a component of doing trade finance together, opening lines of credit, and crafting guarantees together as a joint initiative to facilitate customers to grow their businesses,” said Dr. Mwangi, emphasizing the strategic role of Nairobi as a financial hub for East and Central Africa in enhancing Kenya’s influence in regional economic integration.
BpiFrance CEO, Nicolas Dufourcq, describing Africa as “the continent of the future”, underscored France’s position as a key investor in Kenya, particularly in sectors such as agriculture, fintech and renewable energy.
He lauded the agreement as a gateway for fostering trade, technology transfer, and local entrepreneurship.
“We have various partners in West and North Africa and have now signed an agreement with Equity, whom we are going to partner with in co-financing the business community in East Africa.
“We aim to act as a Franco-African trade bridge, facilitating the flow of capital, technology and entrepreneurship between Europe and Africa,” said Dufourcq.
This collaboration aligns with Kenya’s recently enacted Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the European Union, granting Kenyan exporters duty-free access to 27 EU member states, including France, Germany and Italy.
By leveraging this framework, the Equity-BpiFrance partnership is expected to catalyze job creation, economic growth and trade opportunities for Kenyan businesses in the trillion-dollar European market.
Through this partnership, Equity will de-risk investments for French companies venturing into Africa, providing syndicated loans in both local and foreign currencies.
Dr. Mwangi expressed optimism that Equity’s growing presence in French-speaking regions, such as the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and parts of the diaspora, will strengthen ties with French businesses and attract European investments.
“We want European companies to invest in Africa, bringing their technology, capital and entrepreneurship to foster local manufacturing and reduce the export of raw materials, which in turn will support job creation for our people,” said Dr. Mwangi.
Equity is aligning its Africa Recovery and Resilience Plan (ARRP) with such partnerships and others like the recently launched German Desk to support European businesses entering East Africa while fostering local business and job growth.
“The partnerships with BpiFrance and the German Desk demonstrate Equity’s commitment to positioning Africa as an investment destination while driving sustainable development and economic growth across the continent,” Dr. Mwangi added.
