Equity Group signed three strategic partnership agreements aimed at accelerating financing for small businesses, strengthening agricultural value chains, enhancing trade, and supporting 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 Emmanuel Macron. The agreements position Equity Group at the centre of growing economic cooperation between Africa and France. The cooperation is also focused on sustainable development, industrialization, and enterprise growth.
The partnerships bring together Equity Group with several organisations. These include the French development finance institution PROPARCO and global agricultural research organization CIRAD. The partnerships also involve agrologistics partners SEMMARIS and ARISE Integrated Industrial Platforms (ARISE IIP) Kenya.
Speaking after the signing of the agreements, Equity Group Managing Director and CEO Dr James Mwangi said Africa’s future growth would depend on building strong partnerships that connect finance, innovation, production, 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,” Dr Mwangi said.
He also added that the partnerships reflected a shared commitment to building resilient ecosystems capable of accelerating trade, strengthening food systems, expanding access to finance, and supporting climate resilience across the continent.
“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 said.
Under the first agreement, Equity Group Holdings Plc signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with PROPARCO, a member of the Agence Française de Développement (AFD) Group. This agreement deepens a long-standing relationship between the two institutions.
The partnership will focus on five key areas. These include:
- Small and medium-sized enterprises and micro-SMEs
- Climate finance
- Agriculture and value chain development
- Trade finance and regional trade facilitation
- Financial sector development and social impact initiatives
The MoU also paved the way for a proposed USD 70 million syndicated financing facility for EquityBCDC. EquityBCDC is Equity Group’s subsidiary in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The financing facility was arranged by PROPARCO alongside several development finance institutions.
PROPARCO will contribute USD 25 million to the facility, which will be dedicated entirely to SMEs. Also, 30 per cent of the contribution will be reserved for women-led businesses under the global 2X Challenge initiative.
The financing is expected to support underserved businesses while contributing to 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,” said Françoise Lombard, CEO of PROPARCO.
“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,” she added.
Dr Mwangi also said the partnership would help unlock African enterprise at scale by accelerating financing for SMEs. He added that it will help to strengthen support for climate and green finance, agriculture, trade finance, and financial sector development.
“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,” he said.
In the second agreement, Equity Group facilitated a strategic partnership between ARISE IIP Kenya and SEMMARIS. The latter is the operator of France’s Rungis International Market, one of the world’s largest wholesale fresh produce markets.
The collaboration will support the development of regional agrologistics and food distribution infrastructure in Kenya. It will also target improvements in food security, horticultural value chains, cold-chain logistics, wholesale market systems, and export connectivity.
The partnership is aligned with Equity Group’s Africa Recovery and Resilience Plan. The plan seeks to connect African producers and value chains to global markets. This will be achieved through infrastructure development, trade facilitation, and ecosystem partnerships.
The third agreement brought together Equity Bank Kenya, Equity Group Foundation, and the French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development (CIRAD). The partnership is aimed at advancing sustainable agriculture and climate resilience across Africa.
The MoU will support agricultural value-chain development, climate-smart agriculture and farmer productivity. It will also support institutional capacity building, technical training, research dissemination, and policy engagement.
The collaboration will also explore opportunities in sustainability, enterprise development, health, technology, and artificial intelligence.
The agreements were also signed as African and French leaders sought to deepen economic cooperation. They also aimed to mobilize investments capable of accelerating industrialization, innovation, and inclusive growth across the continent.
The Africa Forward Summit also brought together heads of state, policymakers, global investors, development finance institutions, and business leaders. Together, they discussed strategies for strengthening trade, innovation, and economic transformation between Africa and France.
