The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank Group (AfDB) through its private sector window approved on March 2, 2015 a USD 3 million line of credit to Madison Finance Company Ltd (MFC), to support Zambian SMEs across a wide range of sectors.
MFC is a rapidly growing financial institution targeting local small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Zambia by offering various financial products and services such as term loans, leasing, invoice discounting and insurance.
MFC is gradually increasing its SME portfolio share targeting 30% by end 2015, with plans to reach 40% by 2016 and aims to serve 6,000 Zambian SMEs by 2017.
The AfDB LoC will enable MFC to reach SMEs involved in trade, agriculture, construction, manufacturing, hospitality and services.
The facility is expected to support at least 1,000 SMEs, including 500 female-owned businesses, over the project period.
In addition to the loan by AfDB, MFC will also receive with technical assistance supported by the Fund for African Private Sector Assistance (FAPA) and governments of Japan and Austria.
This project falls under the AfDB’s Africa SME Program, a four-year, USD 125 million funding program combined with a USD 3.98-million technical assistance package granted by FAPA, approved by the AfDB in 2013.
The goal of the Program is to provide medium to long-term finance and technical assistance in order to address constraints faced by financial institutions and their SME clients across Africa.
