Equity Group has signed several partnerships leveraging the growing Africa-France economic cooperation, focusing on agriculture, trade, climate resilience, enterprise financing, and sustainable development during the Africa Forward: Africa-France Partnerships for Innovation and Growth Summit held in Nairobi.
The summit brought together heads of state including host H.E President William Ruto and his French counterpart H.E Emmanuel Macron, alongside global investors, policymakers, development finance institutions, and business leaders to advance collaboration in trade, innovation, industrialization, and economic transformation across Africa.
- Equity Group – PROPARCO MoU
Equity Group Holdings Plc and PROPARCO, a member of the Agence Française de Développement (AFD) Group signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). Proparco and Equity Group have a long-standing relationship and share a common commitment to fostering a responsible and sustainable private sector across the African continent.
The signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) marks a new milestone, reflecting a renewed shared ambition to support high-impact projects. The MoU identifies five strategic priority areas in which Proparco and Equity Group commit to actively collaborate:
- Financing of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and micro-SMEs
- Climate finance
- Agriculture and value chain development
- Trade finance and regional trade facilitation
- Financial sector development and social impact initiatives
The Letter of Interest (LoI) marks a first concrete step in the partnership, with a transaction involving EquityBCDC, a subsidiary of Equity Group Holdings Plc and a leading bank in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) active in SME financing. It sets the framework for a USD 70 million syndicated facility arranged by Proparco alongside several development finance institutions, including a USD 25 million participation from Proparco.
The facility will be fully dedicated to SMEs, with 30% allocated to women-led businesses, thereby qualifying for the 2X Challenge. The project will support access to finance for underserved businesses and contribute to Sustainable Development Goal 8: “Decent Work and Economic Growth.”
“Proparco is pleased to strengthen its partnership with Equity Group, a leading financial player in Africa, and its subsidiary EquityBCDC. This new step in our collaboration, as well as the loan arranged by Proparco alongside our peers, demonstrates our continued commitment to fostering a dynamic private sector that generates positive impact,” said Françoise Lombard, CEO of Proparco.
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“This partnership with Proparco is about unlocking African enterprise at scale. Through this, we are accelerating financing to SMEs and strengthening support for climate and green finance, agriculture, trade finance, and broader financial sector development across Africa. By combining Proparco’s development finance expertise with Equity Group’s regional footprint and market access capabilities, we are enabling more entrepreneurs and businesses to invest, trade, create jobs and build resilient communities. Together, we are advancing inclusive economic growth and sustainable development across the continent,” said Dr James Mwangi, Managing Director and CEO Equity Group Holdings.
- Equity Group – SEMMARIS and ARISE IIP Kenya Partnership
Equity Group also facilitated a strategic partnership between ARISE Integrated Industrial Platforms (ARISE IIP) Kenya and SEMMARIS, the operator of the world-renowned Rungis International Market in France. The collaboration seeks to support the development of regional agrologistics and food distribution infrastructure in Kenya, focused on strengthening food security, horticultural value chains, cold-chain logistics, wholesale market systems, and export connectivity to regional and international markets.
The partnership aligns with Equity Group’s Africa Recovery and Resilience Plan (ARRP), which aims to connect African value chains to global markets through trade facilitation, infrastructure development, and ecosystem partnerships.
- Equity Group – CIRAD MoU
One of the key agreements signed during the summit was a strategic Memorandum of Understanding between Equity Bank Kenya, Equity Group Foundation (EGF), and the French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development (CIRAD).
The partnership is aimed at advancing sustainable agriculture, climate resilience, food systems transformation, and rural economic growth across Africa by combining Equity Group’s regional financial ecosystem with CIRAD’s globally recognized agricultural research expertise.
The agreement will support collaboration in agricultural value-chain development, climate-smart agriculture, farmer productivity, institutional capacity building, technical training, research dissemination, and policy engagement. It also opens opportunities for future cooperation in sustainability, enterprise development, health, technology, and artificial intelligence.
Speaking on the partnerships, Equity Group Managing Director and CEO Dr. James Mwangi further said Africa’s future competitiveness will depend on the continent’s ability to build strong ecosystems that connect finance, innovation, production, markets and partnerships into sustainable engines of economic transformation.
“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. The future will belong to economies that can effectively connect capital to businesses, research to production, farmers to markets, and entrepreneurs to opportunities,” Dr Mwangi said.
He added: “These partnerships reflect a shared commitment to building resilient ecosystems capable of accelerating trade, strengthening food systems, expanding access to finance, supporting climate resilience and positioning Africa as a globally competitive economic force. Through collaboration between African institutions and international partners, we can unlock sustainable growth, create jobs, empower communities, and drive inclusive prosperity across the continent.
