Equity Group, African Guarantee Fund partner in Ksh.64B deal to boost MSMEs in Africa

Equity Group Holdings Plc and the African Guarantee Fund (AGF) have renewed and expanded their strategic partnership in a groundbreaking Ksh.64 billion (USD 500 million) which seeks to accelerate access to finance for Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) across East and Central Africa.

The facility is expected to unlock Ksh.129.5 billion (USD 1 billion) in lending and sustain over 50,000 jobs, especially among women and youth.

According to a joint statement by the two multi-national companies, the collaboration, which they say is the largest single guarantee engagement in AGF’s history, will support MSMEs in Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) with plans to reach future Equity Group subsidiaries over the next decade.

AGF Group CEO Jules Ngankam highlighted the development impact, saying, “Our renewed partnership with Equity Group further increases our footprint and impact in the region. We expect to see more people employed, more businesses growing from small to medium scale, and stronger overall economic resilience.”

The rollout is expected to occur in three phases, beginning with an initial USD 115 million (Ksh.18.86 billion) tranche already committed to five of Equity’s core subsidiaries.

The companies noted that the new partnership is built on a strong foundation laid in 2018 and enhanced in 2020 through a USD 75 million (Ksh.9.7 billion) facility, which has so far enabled the disbursement of over USD 160 million in loans to nearly 2,000 MSMEs, including 500 women-led and 900 youth-led businesses.

Both Equity Group and AGF are also championing green and blue economy financing and are working together to support climate-smart and nature-sustaining projects.

Through AGF’s Green Guarantee Facility and Equity’s innovative financing solutions, the partnership will back businesses involved in sustainable coastal and freshwater livelihoods.

Likewise, AGF will continue to support staff training and capacity building at Equity Group, particularly in gender-smart investing, to ensure MSME support is inclusive and effective.