Last October 24, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), signed a partnership agreement with Atlantic Microfinance For Africa (AMIFA) for the development of AMIFA’s products and services and the promotion of microfinance in Subsaharan Africa.

The agreement signed in Rabat should help AMIFA, a subsidiary of Groupe Banque Centrale Populaire (BCP) since 2014, develop its microfinance programme aimed at micro companies and small projects carriers in Subsaharan Africa.

Despite the development of financial inclusion in the region, in the recent years (from 23% of the population in 2011 to 43% in 2017) majority of the adult population have no access to sustainable and regulated financial services.

According to BCP managers, "the partnership will enable us benefit from IFC's expertise and support in optimising our model and delivering a microfinance programme that contributes more efficiently to the financial inclusion of a significant part of the low-income population”. BCP  which owns a microfinance institution in Côte d’Ivoire aims to establish similar institutions within the WAEMU community.

In 2018, IFC consecrated about $23 billion in long-term investments aimed at ending extreme poverty and promoting shared prosperity.

Octave A. Bruce