Proparco, the French development finance institution and private sector arm of the Agence Française de Développement (AFD) Group, committed nearly €924 million to the African private sector in 2025, reaffirming the continent’s position as the cornerstone of its global investment strategy.
The institution announced its full-year results on April 23, 2026, disclosing total global signings of €2.5 billion across all geographies. Africa accounted for the largest share, with Proparco directing approximately 37 percent of its worldwide portfolio to the continent. Between 2022 and 2025, the institution committed more than €4.6 billion in Africa, representing an average of over €1.1 billion per year.
Of the Africa-focused financing in 2025, nearly 47 percent was provided as loans and around 20 percent as equity investments. A further 20 percent was allocated to trade finance, an instrument the institution described as essential for supporting commercial flows, securing strategic imports, and strengthening the liquidity of local banks in constrained environments.
A total of €450 million was mobilised in 2025 specifically in support of African small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and start-ups, channelled through Proparco’s flagship Choose Africa initiative, which targets entrepreneurial ecosystems across the continent.
The Food and Agriculture Resilience Mission (FARM), launched by the French government in 2022 in response to food security pressures triggered by the Russia-Ukraine conflict, continued to deploy capital through Proparco’s private sector arm. Between 2023 and 2025, the initiative committed nearly €565 million across agribusiness companies, SMEs, and financial institutions active in African agricultural value chains, averaging €190 million per year.
Key investment priorities for the institution in Africa include the energy transition, digital infrastructure, healthcare, manufacturing, and agribusiness. Proparco also highlighted its backing of Beacon Power Services, a Nigeria-based start-up developing smart grid solutions to reduce electricity distribution losses across sub-Saharan Africa, where distribution networks currently lose an estimated 23 percent of the electricity they carry.
Looking ahead, Proparco is co-organising the “Africa Forward: Inspire and Connect” Business Forum alongside Bpifrance and Business France as part of the France-Kenya “Africa Forward” Summit scheduled for May 11 to 12 in Nairobi, Kenya. The forum, held under the patronage of French President Emmanuel Macron and Kenyan President William Ruto, is expected to draw 1,500 business leaders, investors, and policymakers to advance investment ties between France and the African continent.
