Societe Generale deserves the award for Africa’s best bank for sustainable finance on many levels. The French bank chooses its projects wisely, demonstrating an ability to marry quantity with quality. It works in lockstep with international and local partners, and with regional private and public-sector corporates, agencies and initiatives to achieve its ambitions.
The bank’s strength in sustainable finance is predicated on its robust regional presence. Uniquely among Western lenders, it is a powerhouse in the region. Laurent Goutard, head of Africa, Mediterranean basin and overseas region, describes it as: “The only international banking group with a strong African ambition.”
In 2018, Societe Generale launched its Grow with Africa campaign to contribute to sustainable development, with a commitment to align with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs); and its Africa Programme, which backs local initiatives that support education and job creation.
“The Grow with Africa initiative, launched in 2018 and maintained to date, has been reasserted and strengthened to further our involvement in the sustainable development of the continent,” says Goutard. “We are particularly honoured to receive this Euromoney prize, which rewards the longstanding commitment of our teams in Africa.”
In 2021, 16 projects were supported by the programme in nine African countries, including Algeria, Senegal, Cameroon and Burkina Faso.
It also launched its Diversity for Africa programme, with the aim of raising the level of female participation in management positions. That was augmented the following year by a formal diversity and inclusion charter. At the end of 2021, women represented more than a third of management committee members and 44% of managerial teams.
Last year, SocGen renewed its participation in the Women in Africa 54 project, which is committed to supporting 10,000 African female entrepreneurs by 2030, through training, mentoring, communication and access to finance.
In 2021, the bank closed an impressive number of sustainability-related transactions that span the continent. In June, it financed the construction of a $910 million Angolan drinking water plant, including storage and distribution.
In December, it financed a trio of deals: an €83 million hospital in Burkina Faso; the supply and installation of 100,000 off-grid solar streetlights in 400 towns and cities across Senegal at a cost of €200 million; and an €108 million 12-kilometre cable transport line in Antannanarivo, which aims to improve transport links across Madagascar’s capital, including new neighbourhoods, with a zero-emission footprint.
Also in December, the bank committed to financing a $120 million thermal power plant in the Mozambique coastal city of Temane, with the aim of increasing the nationwide supply of low-cost electricity.
The Grow with Africa initiative, launched in 2018 and maintained to date, has been reasserted and strengthened to further our involvement in the sustainable development of the continent
Laurent Goutard
Societe Generale is working on a multitude of projects and funds with local, regional and global commercial banks, multilaterals and agencies. It is the first contributor to Choose Africa Resilience, an initiative formed by the French development agency AFD with the aim of supporting small and medium-sized enterprises.
The programme has disbursed millions of dollars in loans and portfolio guarantees to SMEs and very small enterprises in countries across Africa. The project has extended portfolio guarantees to VSEs and SMEs in Chad, a €20 million portfolio guarantee in Cameroon, a €4.5 million portfolio guarantee to SG Senegal, and a €1 million guarantee to Union Internationale de Banques to fund Tunisian SMEs.
The bank’s good work is visible wherever you look across Africa: working with the Global Fund to fight Aids, malaria and tuberculosis; partnering with Santé en Entreprise to improve disease prevention in Burkina Faso; and working with the Republic of Benin in July 2021 to complete its inaugural SDG bond offering.
SocGen was joint sustainability structuring agent and joint bookrunner on the €500 million issue, which also marks Africa’s first ever SDG-themed debt offering. The funds were earmarked for use in financing various social and environmental projects.
