SOFID signed a 12M€ agreement with the BEI to act in the PALOPs

Isabel Cancela de Abreu, Executive Director of ALER, was present at the Public Presentation on "Investments for Development: the role of SOFID", which took place on December 13 at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

An agreement was signed during the session to strengthen collaboration between the Society for Financing for Development (SOFID) and the European Investment Bank (EIB), in the presence of Emma Navarro, EIB Vice-President. The agreement aims to strengthen the cooperation and conclusion of negotiations on a credit line specifically designed for small and medium-sized enterprises in order to promote investment in countries of the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) region.

Emma Navarro explained that the partnership with SOFID means "strengthening the capacity of the EIB to increase the support of private partners in Africa" and emphasized that the African continent is one of the European Commission's priorities for development.

Marta Mariz, Chairman of the Executive Board of SOFID, believes that the collaboration between SOFID and the EIB is a very important step and shows the commitment to provide SMEs with the tools they need to invest and contribute in this way to the sustainable development of ACP countries.

The InvestimoZ fund was also reinforced, which as the objective to participate in the financing of investment projects from public or private initiatives in Mozambique, promoted by Portuguese companies or by Portuguese-Mozambican partnerships.