In Kenya, in the framework of his East African tour, French president Emmanuel Macron announced that his country, via Proparco, will invest €1 billion in African startups and SMEs.  

For the time being, there are no details about the sectors in which the investments would be made.

Overall, France via its president promised financial and technical support estimated at $2.8 billion for African startups and SMEs. Compared with the promises made by the UK, Germany, the US and China, these commitments are still humble.

In an interview with Ecofin Agency in April 2018, Gregory Clemente, Proparco’s managing director had hinted on these French investments in Africa. “Our East African teams are currently conducting a number of operations, in the form of direct equity investments… This is not always the case in other regions in the continent where we mainly provide loans or guarantees,” he indicated.  

Idriss Linge