Financial institution; Guaranty Trust Bank plc has partnered with Agence Française de Développement (AFD) to launch the N3 Billion Ariz Portfolio Guarantee Scheme, an initiative designed to boost financing for business start-ups and development projects in Nigeria. The partnership with GTBank, which is the first in Anglophone Africa, will support the growth of SMEs by providing a risk sharing mechanism on loan advances.
The Ariz Portfolio Guarantee Scheme provides Banks, private equity investors and other financial institutions a safer platform to increase participation in SME financing by providing foreign guarantees to local credit facilities advanced to SMEs. Since its inception in 2008, The Ariz Portfolio Guarantee Schemehas expanded to over 20 francophone countries in Africa, and has teamed up with more than 40 partner banks worldwide. The scheme has seen a steady rise in the number and volume of guarantees allocated (up 80% annually over the past 3 years) and an increasing number of companies have been able to develop each year, with thousands of jobs created.
The partnership with AFD is the first for any Anglophone speaking country and reaffirms the Bank’s commitment to building a strong SME sector buoyed by easy access to long term financing. As a Bank, we will continue to provide solutions to help smaller businesses build capacity and improve their knowledge of managing businesses.
Earlier in the year, using our SME MarketHub platform, we organized a training program for small business owners on capacity building, business ethics and global best practices.