Equity Group has signed three strategic partnership agreements aimed at accelerating SME financing, agriculture, trade facilitation and climate resilience during the Africa Forward: Africa-France Partnerships for Innovation and Growth Summit in Nairobi.
The agreements, signed on the sidelines of the high-level summit attended by President William Ruto and French President Emmanuel Macron, position Equity Group at the centre of expanding Africa-France economic cooperation focused on enterprise growth, food systems transformation and sustainable development.
The summit brought together heads of state, global investors, policymakers, development finance institutions and business leaders to strengthen partnerships around trade, industrialization, innovation and economic transformation across Africa.
One of the key agreements was a Memorandum of Understanding between Equity Group Holdings Plc and PROPARCO, a member of the Agence Française de Développement (AFD) Group, aimed at deepening financing for small businesses, climate initiatives and agriculture across the continent.
The partnership identified five strategic priority areas including financing of SMEs and micro-SMEs, climate finance, agriculture and value chain development, trade finance and regional trade facilitation, as well as financial sector development and social impact initiatives.
As part of the agreement, Proparco issued a Letter of Interest outlining plans for a USD 70 million syndicated facility for EquityBCDC, Equity Group’s subsidiary in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The facility, which includes a USD 25 million participation from Proparco, will be dedicated entirely to SMEs, with 30 per cent reserved for women-led enterprises under the 2X Challenge initiative.
The financing is expected to expand access to credit for underserved businesses while supporting job creation 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 Proparco CEO Françoise Lombard.
Equity Group Managing Director and CEO Dr James Mwangi said the partnership would help unlock enterprise growth across Africa by connecting financing to productive sectors of the economy.
“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,” said Dr Mwangi.
“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,” he added.
In a second agreement, Equity Group facilitated a strategic partnership between ARISE Integrated Industrial Platforms Kenya and SEMMARIS, the operator of France’s globally recognized Rungis International Market.
The partnership seeks to support the development of agrologistics and food distribution infrastructure in Kenya through investments in cold-chain logistics, horticultural value chains, wholesale market systems and export connectivity.
The collaboration is also expected to strengthen food security while helping connect Kenyan agricultural producers to regional and international markets.
Equity said the initiative aligns with its Africa Recovery and Resilience Plan (ARRP), which seeks to connect African value chains to global markets through infrastructure development, trade facilitation and ecosystem partnerships.
The third agreement signed during the summit brought together Equity Bank Kenya, Equity Group Foundation and the French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development (CIRAD) in a partnership focused on sustainable agriculture and climate resilience.
The MoU aims to combine Equity Group’s regional financial ecosystem with CIRAD’s agricultural research expertise to support climate-smart agriculture, farmer productivity, food systems transformation and rural economic growth.
Areas of cooperation under the agreement include agricultural value-chain development, institutional capacity building, technical training, research dissemination and policy engagement.
The partnership also opens opportunities for future collaboration in sustainability, enterprise development, health, technology and artificial intelligence.
Speaking during the summit, Dr Mwangi said Africa’s future economic competitiveness would depend on building stronger ecosystems linking finance, research, innovation and markets.
“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,” he said.
He added that partnerships between African institutions and global partners would be critical in expanding trade, strengthening food systems and creating inclusive prosperity across the continent.
“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,” Dr Mwangi said.
“Through collaboration between African institutions and international partners, we can unlock sustainable growth, create jobs, empower communities, and drive inclusive prosperity across the continent,” he added.
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