Proparco, a development finance institution, said it is poised to address business challenges in the country and other African countries which are key objectives of its 2023-2027 long-term strategy.
The company, which marks its 15th anniversary in Nigeria, said it has supported $1 billion projects, financing, trust, and technology projects with most of its commitments brokered through Nigerian banks and banks.
The intermediary, according to the agency, provides funds to SMEs and start-ups in key development sectors aimed at improving the lives of Nigerians by providing access to basic needs such as electricity and financial services . . . .
The Chief Executive Officer, Proparco, Françoise Lormbard, disclosed these yesterday at an information day held in Lagos focused on the institution’s short to medium-term strategy for West Africa.
According to Lormbard, Proparco has partnered with its parent company Agence Françoise de Développement (AFD), supporting projects to develop and improve Nigeria’s energy infrastructure, including renewable energy and transmission and distribution including through various tools developed such as Digital Africa, a subsidiary that provides support for high impact digital tech startups, Choose Africa which has committed 3.5 billion Euros between 2018 and 2022 and supports over 40,000 businesses and hundreds of thousands of small businesses many and others.
This focus is perfectly reflected in the 2023-2027 strategy, which aims to support different players in the fight against long-term challenges affecting food security, inequality, and climate in the 19th century.
Regional Director, Proparco Nigeria, Jean Guyonnet-Dupérat, noted that Nigerian entrepreneurs are very courageous entrepreneurs with unwavering energy.
Our objective as financial partners is to build trust and support them through expertise and finance the tools they need to grow further their goals.
I’ll Deal With Unnecessary Forex, Cardoso We Enter As Investors
The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr. Olayemi Cardoso, said the institution would be within all legal powers to address the scarcity of foreign exchange in the country.
According to him, he and the team will address the identified disruptions and ensure favorable conditions for different types of investors in the Nigerian economy. He gave this assurance when a group of investors paid him a courtesy visit at the bank’s headquarters in Abuja yesterday.
Unveiling his plan to formally announce his fiscal and monetary policy in the coming days, Mr. Cardoso stressed the importance of credibility and transparency in the CBN’s monetary policy, stressing the use of.
To this end, he said the bank would focus on strengthening the data collection system to ensure that decisions are based solely on verifiable data and evidence.
According to him, “the CBN also follows known, acceptable, and transparent budgeting rules.”
he said his team was committed in the short term to addressing the issues in the budget that created the spending challenge in the first place.
On the relationship between the monetary authorities, the new CBN Governor said the two authorities will continue to reach a consensus to harmonize their positions on interest rates and inflation.
However, he said the bank remains open to other ideas in its push for greater transparency.
Mr Cardoso said the central bank would only support important strategic financial projects if it allowed experts to lead such important projects, as the expertise lay with other relevant departments. Speaking, investors led by Mrs. Ireti Samuel-Ogbu that they are at the CBN to discuss ways to strengthen cooperation to boost foreign investment in Nigeria.
The group also emphasized the need to maintain the independence of the CBN and the need to increase the country’s foreign exchange reserves.