Basile Tchakounte, Secretary General
“To date, it appears that the guarantees issued by FAGACE have made it possible to mobilize more than 4,500 billion FCFA in financing for the benefit of the economies of member states, particularly in strategic sectors such as industry, agro-industry, energy, telecommunications, transport, construction, etc. Thus, more than 70% of the financing mobilized benefited the private sector which plays a central role in the economic and social development of member countries.
In its capacity as a benchmark institutional guarantor, FAGACE positions itself as an accelerator of business development and a tool for financing the economies of its member states. Thus, with the quality of its signature, it supports issuers in the mobilization of resources on the various financial markets, particularly in the UEMOA, CEMAC, Mauritania and Rwanda zones with a view to carrying out public and private investments. An effective public credit guarantee mechanism such as FAGACE is the key solution capable of meeting the financing challenge, a major point of national programs to promote the development of economies. It is with this solidity that the guarantee issued by FAGACE validly replaces the sovereign guarantees of States when the latter have reached their debt limits. For example, in the context of the restructuring of public companies’ debts to Member States, FAGACE plays a decisive role in providing its expertise so that the financial package is as adequate as possible. In addition, FAGACE grants its guarantee either to secure said operations or to enable banks and financial institutions which repurchase these debts to comply with the prudential ratios of regulators.
Emmanuelle Migan, Director of Operations and Marketing
“The implementation of strategic orientations allows the Institution to record performance at the operational level and more particularly at the level of its core business which is guarantee. The trend observed since 2021 is characterized by an exponential growth in guarantee interventions in favor of companies in strategic sectors of the economies of the Member States. For the 2023 financial year, FAGACE recorded an exceptional performance with an achievement rate of around 262%, compared to 117% and 151% in financing with the FAGACE guarantee obtained successively in 2022 and 2021. The amounts mobilized for the year 2023 amount to 775 billion FCFA compared to around 300 billion FCFA and 180 billion FCFA the two previous years. The guarantees thus granted were in favor of both private projects and public investments and public-private partnership projects in the various Member States. These results are part of a set of objectives that the Institution has set for itself, in particular the adaptation of its products to the needs of the market through the financial engineering that it constantly demonstrates. In view of the dynamics observed in recent years, FAGACE reiterates its availability and its commitment to supporting its partners, in particular credit institutions, SGIs, Caisses de Dépôts and Consignations, etc. to promote access to financing for businesses with a view to of carrying out productive projects through its intervention mechanisms”.
Mouhamadou Al Amine Dia, Risk Director
“The reconciliation between the ambition of the African Fund for Guarantee and Economic Cooperation (FAGACE) to be a pioneer in the field of bank guarantees and risk management is crucial to ensure the sustainability and efficiency of its activities. To this end, FAGACE tries to find a balance between achieving its mission of supporting the economies of Member States through access to financing and controlling the risks linked to its activity.
This being said, the establishment of the risk management system has enabled FAGACE to increase its interventions in favor of Member States and to significantly improve the quality of its portfolio of commitments. Thus, the portfolio loss rate stands at 1.72% in 2023.”
Ines Agueh ZOUNGRANA, Head of Legal Division
“On leonine agreements: “Signing an agreement implies the need to know the purpose, the issues, advantages, disadvantages for each party, of concluding this agreement. Each party must ensure that the rights granted to it and the obligations incumbent upon it are proportional to those granted and incumbent upon the other party; likewise ensure for each provision that the consent of each party has not been disregarded. It is also important to emphasize that our States cannot lack specialists in all sectors of activity. Our States can use these specialists like these international groups. The crux of the problem would lie in the fact that politics and personal interest take precedence over the interest of the population, of the nation. The advice and support that the Fund offers through the FAGACE Institute lies in raising awareness of each development actor (economic, political, etc.) in defense of the general interest, of the nation , populations. To do this, the FAGACE Institute offers specific training modules dedicated to strengthening the capacities of the different players in the ecosystem in legal-financial negotiations, contract analysis and contracting techniques.
Youriane Gogan, Director of Compliance
“FAGACE, operating in a financial environment based essentially on trust, must subscribe to high values of good governance and organizational efficiency to achieve its objectives.
Particular emphasis is placed on governance within the Institution which has carried out several reforms over the last decade. The 2021-2025 Strategic Plan devotes its entire first Axis to this with strengthening the effectiveness of governance bodies. FAGACE is also resolutely committed to remaining a financial institution meeting international standards with standard practices in all of its activities. Its recent “AA” rating by GCR Ratings, a subsidiary of Moody’s, confirms the reforms undertaken and the quality of its signature. It is also necessary to underline the adoption of a compliance system which ensures, among other things, the fight against money laundering and the financing of terrorism, the fight against corruption and the monitoring of operations. Compliance at FAGACE aims to be transparent, responsible and compliant with the most demanding standards, procedures and ethics for an international financial institution.”
Bassirou Ndaw, Director of the FAGACE Institute
“The FAGACE Institute was created in 2021 to make the Fund a capacity building instrument in the guarantee sector and related professions. The Fund’s rich experience in promoting investments and financing the economies of Member States has allowed us to develop recognized expertise in guarantees, financial engineering and resource mobilization. Thus, convinced of the added value and importance of human capital and aware of its role as a catalyst for the financial integration of the economies of its areas of intervention, FAGACE provides Member States, project leaders, banks and institutions with , through its Center of Excellence which is the Institute, recognized expertise in strengthening the capacities of different actors both in assistance in setting up projects, business plans, negotiation with financial partners, and in technical support for the arrangement and closing of financing. The FAGACE Institute, as a think tank, sets up spaces for reflection on major economic, monetary, financial and social issues, as well as on the main challenges facing businesses in the FAGACE intervention area, in order to support decision-makers.
To do this, the Institute relies on the experience and expertise of FAGACE Specialists, and also uses Experts/Consultants from the world of international finance, in order to bring certain added value to its various partners”.
Amidou Amadou, Senior Advisor for Resource Mobilization and Cooperation
“FAGACE as an African development institution, to better develop its activities, has no choice but to deal with the tools which aim at the similarity of its areas of intervention which are the development banks and institutions, more particularly the Badea and Kara Investment Fund, but also with its member states.
The final beneficiaries of FAGACE’s activities remain the economies of the Member States, hence its proximity to better understand their needs and develop the most suitable tools and products.
In terms of resource mobilization, requests currently being studied for the search for financing for the benefit of member states and dismemberments; private companies established in the Fund’s intervention areas, exceeded the threshold of 10 billion US dollars, in favor of key sectors such as: infrastructure, energy, agriculture and housing…”.
Cynthia Favi Haidara, Head of communications and public relations/Commercial and Marketing division
“Today, in sub-Saharan Africa, most States recognize that SMEs constitute a powerful lever for the development of African economies. However, it is clear that they benefit little from formal financing solutions.
In addition to access to information on guarantee mechanisms available on the market, the main causes are linked to the low quality of information concerning SMEs, inadequacies in management and governance, inadequacies of the environment legal and judicial, the high default rate for small and medium-sized enterprises, the insufficiency or weakness of risk-sharing mechanisms.
Faced with this state of affairs, to ensure or improve the understanding and accessibility of its offer, FAGACE has increased communications in its member states on its operating mode structured around the guarantee of both SMEs, large companies and structuring projects of States with distribution of products mainly through banks and Management and Intermediation Companies”.
Summary<< Interview: Dr. Ngueto Tiraïna Yambaye – Director General of the African Guarantee and Economic Cooperation Fund
By Anthioumane D. TandiaPublication director
