A loan of 15 million euros has been signed between Proparco (a subsidiary of the French Development Agency) and Arab Tunisian Lease (ATL), with the aim of supporting Tunisian SMEs.
Tunisia has more than 80,000 SMEs, they represent more than half of jobs and 40% of GNP. They are a real lever for the Tunisian economy for growth, export, investment, employment and innovation. However, they encounter constraints in financing their activity, in particular in the current context aggravated by the covid-19 crisis.
“Leasing”, also called leasing, has developed a lot in Tunisia since the 2000s. It offers a financing solution popular with businesses, especially SMEs, for their investments in equipment. PROPARCO supports this activity by lending directly to leasing companies, in order to increase and diversify their capacities to finance private investments.
With this loan, Proparco is starting a partnership with ATL Leasing, a long-standing player in the leasing sector, present throughout Tunisia through its network of 11 branches.
“We are happy to support a recognized player in the sector in supporting Tunisian small and medium-sized enterprises, in particular in a difficult context aggravated by the health crisis” indicated Amina Ben Abdelkarim, in charge of Proparco’s development in Tunisia. “Leasing is an essential tool for financing VSEs and SMEs in Tunisia. These represent 85% of ATL’s customers. This project is fully in line with Proparco’s priorities, and within the framework of the French Choose Africa initiative, “she added.
Launched in Ouagadougou by the French President, the Choose Africa initiative supports entrepreneurs on the continent: AFD Group provides start-ups, VSEs and SMEs with all of its tools to finance and support them at the various stages of their development. development, and in particular through local partners supported by the Group.
For his part, Zouhaier Tamboura, Managing Director of ATL, said he was delighted with the signing of this loan agreement, which will help to remedy the lack of refinancing resources that affects the Tunisian leasing sector, and will allow ATL Leasing to achieve growth in its funding efforts for SMEs in Tunisia.
