Case
Water supply in Bangladesh
Approx. 15 million people live in the capital of Bangladesh, Dhaka. One in five inhabitants are without access to proper water supply – and during the dry season, even more people experience that they do not have access to clean drinking water.
It is estimated that the population in Dhaka will rise to 30 million people in 2035. Danida Business Finance has made almost DKK 1 billion available to secure the financing of a project that can ensure clean water for more residents in Dhaka. In addition to Danida Business Finance, the French, German, and European Investment Bank participate in financing the project.
Financing of small and medium sized enterprises in Africa
The African Guarantee Fund (AGF) was launched in 2012 with Denmark, the African Development Bank and Spain as shareholders. The purpose is to promote growth and employment in Africa – especially for young people and women.
The SME sector is an important driver of economic growth, innovation and job creation, but African SMEs often have difficulties accessing financing from the formal financial sector. Many banks consider it too risky to provide loans for SMEs.
AGF meets this challenge by providing partial guarantees to facilitate their lending to SMEs. So far, AGF has signed guarantee agreements with more than 100 financial institutions in 38 African countries and has thereby secured financing for approximately 8,000 African SMEs which is estimated to have created around 68,000 jobs. Most of these SMEs are led by young entrepreneurs and almost a third are owned or led by women. Thereby, AGF contributes to both growth and employment as well as increased possibilities for women and young people in Africa.