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Equity Group Signs Three Partnership Deals at Africa Forward Summit
Equity Group Holdings has signed three strategic partnership agreements during the Africa Forward Summit in Nairobi.
The agreements focus on agriculture, trade, climate resilience, SME financing, and sustainable development.
The summit brought together heads of state, investors, policymakers, development finance institutions, and business leaders. The discussions focused on strengthening economic cooperation between Africa and France.
Among the leaders present were William Ruto and Emmanuel Macron.
According to Equity Group, the partnerships support efforts to expand enterprise growth, industrialization, and regional trade across Africa.
Equity Group Expands SME and Trade Financing
Equity Group Holdings signed a Memorandum of Understanding with PROPARCO, a member of the Agence Française de Développement Group.
The agreement targets SME financing, climate finance, agriculture, trade finance, and social impact projects.
In addition, Proparco issued a Letter of Interest supporting a USD 70 million syndicated facility for EquityBCDC in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The financing facility will support small and medium-sized enterprises. Furthermore, 30% of the funds will go to women-led businesses under the 2X Challenge initiative.
According to the partners, the facility will improve access to finance for underserved businesses. It will also support job creation and economic growth.
“Proparco is pleased to strengthen its partnership with Equity Group, a leading financial player in Africa, and its subsidiary EquityBCDC,” said Françoise Lombard.
She added that the partnership demonstrates continued support for private sector growth across Africa.
Meanwhile, James Mwangi said the collaboration would accelerate SME financing. He added that it would also strengthen support for agriculture, climate finance, and trade.
Equity Group Signs Three Partnership Deals at Africa Forward Summit
Partnerships Target Agriculture and Food Security
Equity Group also facilitated a partnership between ARISE Integrated Industrial Platforms Kenya and SEMMARIS.
The partnership aims to strengthen food security and agrologistics infrastructure in Kenya.
Specifically, the partners will focus on horticultural value chains, cold-chain logistics, wholesale market systems, and export connectivity.
Additionally, the initiative supports Equity Group’s Africa Recovery and Resilience Plan. The plan seeks to connect African value chains to global markets.
In another agreement, Equity Bank Kenya and Equity Group Foundation signed a Memorandum of Understanding with CIRAD.
The partnership will support climate-smart agriculture, food systems transformation, and rural economic growth.
Moreover, the agreement covers farmer productivity, technical training, research collaboration, sustainability, technology, and artificial intelligence.
Dr. Mwangi said Africa’s future competitiveness will depend on stronger ecosystems that connect finance, research, production, and markets.
“Africa stands at a defining moment where the continent must move from exporting raw potential to creating value through enterprise, industrialization and innovation-led growth,” he said
He added that the partnerships would strengthen food systems, expand access to finance, and build more resilient communities across Africa.
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