Abidjan- The Regional Securities Exchange (BRVM) and the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA) signed on Wednesday October 9, 2024, a partnership agreement for the financing of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) of the Union West African Monetary Economy (UEMOA), on the sidelines of the 9th edition of the Africa SME Champions Forum which is being held in Abidjan on October 9 and 10, 2024,
The objective of this global cooperation agreement is to define a strategic partnership framework between the BRVM and the BADEA on issues of common interest, especially the improvement of financing for SMEs in the UEMOA.
It includes three axes, namely capacity building of SMEs in UEMOA countries which constitute the bulk of its economic fabric through a technical assistance program, financing of SMEs in UEMOA through market access debt and financing of UEMOA SMEs through equity support.
Since the opening in December 2017 of its third compartment dedicated to SMEs and
specifically for SMEs with high growth potential, the BRVM has set up a support program called “Elite BRVM Lounge” from 2018 to prepare SMEs for market financing.
Based on the lessons learned from this first program which saw the participation of 30 SMEs from the Union, a new support program is in preparation. This new program will benefit more than a hundred SMEs.
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