{"id":278750,"date":"2026-05-21T14:55:42","date_gmt":"2026-05-21T14:55:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bidc-ebid.org\/en\/?p=278750"},"modified":"2026-05-21T14:55:42","modified_gmt":"2026-05-21T14:55:42","slug":"ebid-and-afriland-first-bank-ci-forge-xof-10-billion-partnership-to-boost-sme-growth-in-cote-divoire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bidc-ebid.org\/en\/ebid-and-afriland-first-bank-ci-forge-xof-10-billion-partnership-to-boost-sme-growth-in-cote-divoire\/","title":{"rendered":"EBID and Afriland First Bank CI Forge XOF 10 Billion Partnership to Boost SME Growth in C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development (EBID) and Afriland First Bank C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire S.A. signed a loan agreement on May 20, 2026, at the Bank\u2019s headquarters in Lom\u00e9, Togo, for an amount of ten billion (10,000,000,000) FCFA to strengthen private sector financing and accelerate economic transformation in C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire.<\/p>\n<p>The facility will support the growing short- and medium-term financing needs of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) and mid-sized companies operating in strategic sectors such as health, education, agro-industry, manufacturing, trade, construction, services, and technology. By improving access to tailored financing solutions, the partnership seeks to unlock productive capacity, stimulate entrepreneurship, and enhance the competitiveness of local enterprises.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking at the signing ceremony, Dr. George Agyekum Donkor, President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of EBID, stated: \u201cThis partnership reflects EBID\u2019s continued commitment to strengthening the private sector as a catalyst for sustainable growth, industrial development, and regional integration. By supporting businesses with the financing required to scale operations, innovate, and create jobs, we are investing in the long-term resilience and competitiveness of West African economies.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Managing Director of Afriland First Bank C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire S.A., Mr. Christian Kammogne Fogaing, emphasized the strategic importance of the facility: \u201cThis credit line significantly reinforces our ability to support SMEs and mid-sized enterprises, which remain central to economic activity and job creation. It aligns with our ambition to deepen financial inclusion, stimulate productive investment, and provide businesses with the resources needed to expand and thrive in an increasingly competitive environment.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Beyond providing financing, the initiative is expected to generate substantial economic value expansion of business operations, job creation, and strengthened \u00a0regional value chains. The project will also contribute to improving the resilience of local enterprises and supporting inclusive economic growth in C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire and the ECOWAS sub-region.<\/p>\n<p>Through this partnership, EBID continues to advance its Growth, Resilience and Optimisation (GRO) Strategy by mobilising resources toward high-impact private sector initiatives that foster industrialization, economic diversification, regional integration, and sustainable development across West Africa.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development (EBID) and Afriland First Bank C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire S.A. signed a loan agreement on May 20, 2026, at the Bank\u2019s headquarters in Lom\u00e9, Togo, for an amount of ten billion (10,000,000,000) FCFA to strengthen private sector financing and accelerate economic transformation in C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire. The facility will support the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":278747,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-278750","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.bidc-ebid.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/FirstBank_CI_2026.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bidc-ebid.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/278750","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bidc-ebid.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bidc-ebid.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bidc-ebid.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bidc-ebid.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=278750"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.bidc-ebid.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/278750\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":278751,"href":"https:\/\/www.bidc-ebid.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/278750\/revisions\/278751"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bidc-ebid.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/278747"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bidc-ebid.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=278750"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bidc-ebid.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=278750"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bidc-ebid.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=278750"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}