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Mentoring and support: A key element in the sustainability of SMEs.
While there is a need for more research in the area of entrepreneur mentoring in Africa, the existing research shows a return on mentoring investment (ROMI) in the form of economic growth through reve...
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Cameroon: 90% of the labor force trapped in the informal sector
The informal sector occupies a disproportionate position in Cameroon. While it ensures the survival of many workers, it prevents the country’s development by maintaining low incomes and reducing its t...
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SME Finance as seen by regulators : Focus on Sub-Saharan Africa
Access to finance for African SMEs is a key challenge. Through this article, the Alliance for Financial Inclusion (AFI) aims to share the experiences and practices of member countries that have implem...
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Digitisation in Africa: Channelling Funding to SMEs
Could innovation emerge from near destruction? Would the digitisation that led to the global financial crisis preclude SMEs from obtaining the finance they needed to continue playing the crucial role...
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AFRICINVEST III
Proparco regularly invests in the fund which manages AfricInvest, a venture capital company focused on Africa. AfricInvest III finances midcaps in key development sectors.
Project
What are the main reasons for micro-business and SME loan default in Sub-Saharan Africa?
Micro- and small- and medium-sized businesses (micro-businesses and SMEs) are a vital part of Sub-Saharan Africa’s economic fabric but frequently suffer from poor access to funding and this represents...
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Realising Africa’s Potential: SME Finance and Skills
African SMEs have the potential to provide jobs for their working-age youth. Yet there are key impediments – access, risk, regulation and acumen – to them receiving financing. Addressing the perceived...
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Equity investment to bring to scale: An interview with two financed SMEs
As we have repeated on a number of occasions in this issue – and the different articles have borne this out – access to funding is one of the key challenges and obstacles to the development of SMEs in...
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Popular Shareholding in Africa, both a Political and Financial Tool
Popular shareholding in the context of Africa would seem doomed to failure, yet it has now become a major development area for African financial markets. This type of equity ownership seems to have me...
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Recent Evolution of the African Financial Markets
Financial markets play an important role in financing Africa's private sector. Their recent growth in strength is unquestionable despite the sudden standstill caused by the 2008 crisis: sixfold increa...
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The Economic Impact of the Development of Mobile Telephony: Results from a Case Study in Haiti
Haitian data confirm that mobile phone development acts as an engine for economic growth, what consequently brings a number of social benefits. However, a large part of the population remains excluded...
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Rebuilding a Shattered Nation: The Impact of Wireless Communication and Mobile Banking in Afghanistan
In an extremely difficult context – that of Afghanistan at war – mobile phones provide users with some basic services that are essential for the country's reconstruction. The explosion in the developm...
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The Impacts of the Mobile Phone Sector on Development: Mixed Results?
The expansion of the mobile phone sector in developing countries would appear to have obvious benefits. However, the conditions in which this takes place can sometimes be questioned. Deregulation in t...
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How to Succeed in Developing Countries for a Mobile Telephony Operator? The Case of Milicom
Some mobile phone operators invested in developing countries very early on, whereas profitability seemed to be uncertain. If such investments are to be profitable, it is necessary to respect some key...
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Mobile Phones, Markets and Firms in Sub-Saharan Africa
In Sub-Saharan Africa, the use of mobile phones has positive impacts on the way local consumer goods markets operate. Indeed, a study conducted in Niger shows that mobile phones help reduce costs and...
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Mobile Telephony: A Transformational Tool for Growth and Development
The past 15 years have brought an unprecedented increase in access to telephone services in developing countries. This growth has been driven primarily by wireless technologies. Mobile phones have mad...
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The African Mobile Phone Market: Beyond the Boom Phase, Between the Promise and Uncertainty of Maturity
The growth of African mobile markets over the past decade has been dramatic and well documented. Its impact has been far-reaching, directly through large capital investments and the emergence of large...
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Microfinance: on the road to responsible finance?
Although serious abuses may be in the minority, the microfinance sector is not without flaws – or temptations. Some highly competitive markets put considerable pressure on costs to the detriment of se...
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ACTIVA FINANCES LTD
Proparco's aim in supporting the development of Activa, a leading insurer in Sub-Saharan Africa, is to support the diversification in the range of financial products in the region – particularly in C...
Project
How can a MFI manage to have a commercial status and still target “vulnerable” people as a core client group?
When loans are extended to “vulnerable” people, too many of them are left overindebted – this could lead to a highly risky credit crisis. If microfinance institutions need to develop into fully-fledge...
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