The bank is a major microcredit actor in many countries with several partners

Objective

  • Support the lasting development of microfinance in the countries in which our International Retail Banking division is present.

Priority

  • Become the benchmark partner for local microfinance structures, particularly in Africa, the Middle East and the Mediterranean.

Highlights in 2010

  • Creation of Advans Côte d’Ivoire in partnership with Advans, the AFD and the FMO.

Microfinance strategy

Societe Generale has chosen to focus its microfinance activities in those countries in which the Group provides universal banking products and services. Its strategy is implemented via its overseas network of subsidiaries which are encouraged to finance the different microfinance institutions of the countries in which they are located, particularly as these institutions have enormous difficulty in securing local credit facilities. As such, although devoted exclusively to initiatives in these countries, Societe Generale’s commitments are substantial. Microfinancing gives local institutions access to resources which they can pay for in their local currency, thereby avoiding any exchange rate risks. Local "financiers" are long-term partners and close ties are forged and built on mutual trust over time.
The Group's involvement in microfinance comes in addition to its standard banking services. The institutions supported by Societe Generale are able to offer communities that are unable to open a bank account access to banking products and services and, in doing so, feed their local economies.

Outlook at the end of 2010

Societe Generale works alongside some 30 institutions, primarily on the African continent. The main countries in which it is involved include:
  • Sub-Saharan Africa: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ghana, Guinea, Madagascar and Senegal,
  • Middle East and North Africa: Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia and Jordan,
  • Eastern Europe: Albania and Georgia.
The credit lines set up by Societe Generale are primarily for institutions in Africa, the Mediterranean and the Middle East.
This geographic ‘focus’ is particularly important since Africa currently receives only 18% of the world's microfinance funding which is estimated at € 14.8 billion (Source: CGAP). The Group's subsidiaries are therefore a precious source for the continent's institutions.
At the end of 2010, Societe Generale's credit line commitments amounted to € 99 million.

Investment in Africa's microfinance institutions:

Five Societe Generale subsidiaries have invested in the capital of microfinance institutions in Sub-Saharan Africa as founding shareholders. These include:
  • Madagascar: AccesBanque Madagascar
  • Ghana: Advans Ghana
  • Cameroun: Advans Cameroun
  • Ivory Coast: Advans Côte d’Ivoire
  • Burkina Faso: ACEP Burkina (pending certification)
The Group is also a founding shareholder in MicroCred which was created by the PlanetFinance Group in 2005 with the aim of setting up a group of MFIs (6 at the end of 2010).
Investments in institutions are assessed according to their social impact.