Olufemi Adeyemi
According to a statement from UBA on Monday, the AGF under
this agreement will support and guarantee SMEs with a $50m Portfolio Guarantee
as well as facilitate extensive capacity development for the bank’s customers
who run small businesses across the continent, paying special attention to
women-led businesses and green finance projects.
UBA’s Group Managing Director, Oliver Alawuba, who spoke
during the partnership signing ceremony at the bank’s Head Office in Lagos,
said that as Africa’s global bank, UBA remained committed to supporting SMEs in
Africa, especially to women-founded and managed businesses.
He said, “This guarantee will serve as a catalyst for the
bank’s intervention for SME business, women-led and environment-friendly
businesses, enabling us to further extend our reach and impact. “Additionally,
the extensive capacity development initiatives planned for our SME customers
across 20 African countries align with our vision to empower businesses, drive
innovation, and foster sustainable growth.”
“I’m particularly excited about our focus on advancing the
AfCFTA initiative, reaffirming UBA’s $6 billion commitment to SMEs across
Africa. This initiative, announced in September last year, demonstrates our
dedication to supporting the economic integration of our continent.”
He noted that the bank’s commitment to promoting gender
equality was reflected in its collaboration with the Affirmative Finance Action
for Women protocol.
“Through this, we will provide loans to women-owned SMEs at
more concessional rates, with customer-friendly collateral terms, aiming to
bridge the significant financing gap faced by women in Africa, amounting to
$42bn,” Alawuba affirmed.
Also, the Group CEO of the African Guarantee Fund, Jules
Ngankam, asserted that the partnership between two pan-African institutions
that are both at the forefront of catalysing growth and development of SMEs
would significantly drive economic growth across the continent.
“Small and medium enterprises despite being the backbone of
all African economies – they account for 90 per cent of the private sector and
60 per cent of all jobs – are perceived as risky and therefore have limited
access to financing.
“Through this guarantee facility and the technical capacity
development grant support, we will de-risk SMEs with a priority on those that
are owned or led by women and those that are within the green sector,” he said.
This partnership follows an announcement made by UBA and the
Africa Continental Free Trade Area Secretariat in September 2024. The
partnership will help the bank fulfil its $6bn commitment to SMEs across Africa
under the AfCFTA initiative.