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United States (U.S.) International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) has approved 22 new projects totalling more than $697 million to support development projects in Nigeria and other parts of the world.
DFC, in a statement, said that one of the projects approved for the second quarter of this year included a $250 million loan to Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) to support critical infrastructure across the African continent.
Another one is a $65 million loan to SFC Finance Limited (dba AfricInvest Private Credit) to fund on-lending to small businesses throughout Sub-Saharan Africa, expanding access to term loans and working capital, especially among women-owned and women-led enterprises.
Also, DFC approved a $20 million loan to the African Local Currency Bond Fund to support capital market development and financial inclusion for small businesses, an equity investment of up to $15 million to Inside Equity Fund II to support the fund’s expansion of investments in underserved small businesses in Southeast Africa;
a $500,000 technical assistance grant to Pezesha Africa Limited will provide the enterprise capital to leverage data science, machine learning, and other advanced computing technologies to further develop its credit scoring algorithm, enhancing its sustainable lending practices to small businesses in sub-Saharan Africa.
