Microfinance Focus, August 5, 2011: Luxembourg based Venture Capital Investment Company Advans SA has signed grant agreements worth EUR 3.19 million with Agence Française de Développement (AFD) and Development Bank of Austria (OeEB) for the development of its affiliated microfinance institutions.

Under the first agreement, Advans Banque Congo will receive EUR 440,000 to enhance the provision of financial services to Small and Medium Enterprises in Democratic Republic of Congo.

The second grant amounts to EUR 750,000 and is dedicated to the creation of Advans Côte d’Ivoire, a microfinance institution which will shortly be opening its operations in Abidjan.

AFD contributed another EUR 1.5 million to the creation of three greenfield microfinance institutions, which will increment the Advans network in a near future.

The Development Bank of Austria granted EUR 500,000 from the Advisory Programmes, funded with means of the Austrian Ministry of Finance. The grant will be used to implement technical assistance activities in the existing and future institutions of the Advans network, including training, transfer of knowledge and best practices, and implementation of Management Information Systems.

The Advans network currently spans six countries including Cambodia, Cameroon, Ghana, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Tanzania and Côte d’Ivoire. Over the next three years, Advans SA plans to establish 6 to 7 new MFIs in Africa, Asia and the Middle-East.