The European Union decided to set up an investment fund of 44 billion Euros for Africa. That is good news to Loïc De Cannière, the CEO of Incofin. He wrote an opinion essay about it in De Tijd.
‘That a European investment fund of 44 billion Euros is set up for Africa is important and good news. For the first time, Africa is seen as a continent with chances and possibilities’, Loïc says. ‘However, the rolling out of the fund should not be underestimated due to the significant governance problems in Africa.’
The ‘European Fund for Sustainable Development’ or ‘EFSD’ will invest in sustainable infrastructure and in the financing of micro-entrepreneurs and SMEs, something which Incofin Microfinance Fund has been doing for the past 25 years already. ‘We invest 80 million Euros in 11 African countries. That will give 1.4 million Africans the chance to expand their micro businesses and SMEs’, the CEO explains. ‘We also invest in companies and cooperative companies that buy their agricultural products from 150,000 small farmers to sell them on the world market (coffee, cocoa, bananas, nuts).’