Abidjan welcomes the EIB‘s (www.BEI.org) first commitment to good banking practices in West and Central Africa; The governors of the central banks of West and Central Africa to highlight the financial challenges; 2021 SME The Academy of Banking and Microfinance follows EIB train over 40,000 finance professionals across Africa over the past 7 years; Industry experts share their experience and solutions to strengthen financing for gender and agriculture, digitization and understanding of climate risk.

Executives and financial and banking experts from across West and Central Africa to participate in the 2021 edition of the European Investment Bank SME Banking and Microfinance Academy, the first to be held in the region. More than 1,000 participants from banking, microfinance and development finance from 67 countries will share their technical and practical experience of successfully increasing access to finance for smallholders, entrepreneurs and enterprises during the fully bilingual virtual event.

“The European Investment Bank recognizes the importance of ensuring that private sector financing enables sustainable economic and social development. This inaugural EIB West and Central Africa SME Banking and Microfinance Academy brings together partners who share the same goal and long-term goal of building resilience and unlocking economic and social opportunities for local communities, smallholder farmers and entrepreneurs across Africa. Building on a previous best practice sharing that has strengthened the specialist skills of over 40,000 African finance professionals for the benefit of many more entrepreneurs and small farmers, I am confident of the Academy’s success. said Ambroise Fayolle, Vice-President of the European Investment Bank.

Opened by Jobst von Kirchmann, Ambassador of the European Union in Côte d’Ivoire and hosted by the Regional Representation of the European Investment Bank for West Africa in Abidjan, the Académie de la Banque et de la Microfinance will be an opportunity for African and international financial partners to share their experience in supporting economic resilience. crucial to meet the challenges of COVID-19, accelerating digitization and green finance, and improving access to finance for women, isolated communities and vulnerable groups.

For two days, experts from leading financial institutions, the EIB and partners Making Finance Work for Africa (MFW4A).

Central bank governors from across West and Central Africa will also participate and discuss current challenges and trends in financial services.

Extend the successful exchange of best banking practices to West and Central Africa

The 2021 SME Banking and Microfinance Academy is the first time that the European Investment Bank has organized the event in West and Central Africa. This follows previous banking and microfinance academies held in East and Southern Africa since 2016 and dedicated best practice training with more than 40,000 financial services professionals across Africa.

Banking professionals and the private sector SME banking and microfinance clients across Africa are already benefiting from dedicated business management, banking risk management and specialized training provided by the European Investment Bank through programs to technical assistance across Africa.

Over the past decade, the EIB Delivered dedicated training for finance professionals in 288 banks and microfinance partners and enhanced the business skills of entrepreneurs, smallholder farmers and refugees across the continent.

Driving transformational change through increased access to finance

The 2021 SME Banking and Microfinance Academy will enable African and international banking and microfinance practitioners from across West and Central Africa to share their knowledge on the latest banking best practices. The experience of previous academies in Nairobi and Pretoria has shown how closer cooperation and knowledge sharing are essential to expand access to finance to targeted market segments, overcome key challenges and foster and accelerate high impact investments.

Participants will exchange experiences and expertise on climate finance, intensifying digitization, enabling finance to better reflect the needs of private sector entrepreneurs, smallholders and agriculture, and ensure that women entrepreneurs and women-run businesses can overcome banking barriers.

Speakers will also highlight how financial institutions are scaling up digital investments to improve financial service delivery, sustainability reporting as well as to improve environmental and social assessments.

With 58 years of EIB supporting private sector growth and transformational investment in Africa

In recent years, the European Investment Bank has worked with financial partners based in West and Central Africa, including Baobab, ECOBANQUE, Microcred, Kafo Jiginew, BDEAC, Société Générale, Commercial Bank of Cameroon and PRO SME to improve access to specialized and targeted funding.

The EIB promotes the development of the financial sector through technical assistance for both financial intermediaries and final beneficiaries of the private sector in order to strengthen managerial and financial skills.

Recent programs have provided targeted support to African banking institutes. This includes the recent partnership between the EIB and the International Monetary Fund to support financial sector development across the continent. Gasket EIB–IMF online course on financial inclusion and financial development.

By offering specialized technical assistance and fostering closer cooperation with its partners across the continent, the European Investment Bank contributes to a lasting legacy of local capacity building and even the development of stronger technical skills to ensure that ‘increased access to finance overcomes the daily challenges faced by small African countries. companies.

The European Investment Bank is the largest international public bank in the world, owned directly by the 27 Member States of the European Union.

The EIB has operated across Africa since 1965 and last year provided EUR 5 billion for private and public investments across Africa.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of the European Investment Bank (EIB).

Background information
The European Investment Bank (EIB) is the European Union’s long-term credit institution owned by its Member States. It makes long-term funding available for sound investments in order to contribute to the political objectives of the EU.

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