Advans SA
Region and country of operations: International
Jurisdiction of registration: Luxemburg
Business sector: Microfinance
Date of agreement (month/year): 9/2021
Finnfund’s financing: EUR 10,000,000
Share of Finnfund’s financing: 100%
Instrument: Loan
Size of project/financing: EUR 10,000,000
Environmental and social category: B
Project description
The Advans Group is a leading international microfinance group, currently serving about a million clients with a staff of about 8,000 employees in nine countries. Advans has established its operations as greenfields apart from Cambodia. The company targets developing markets where clients lack adequate access to financial services and where there is high potential for growth and the creation of social value..
Main development impact
Advans serves clients who lack access to financial services and increasingly focuses on providing finance to small businesses in rural areas and agriculture value chains. The company targets small businesses with growth opportunities helping them create and sustain jobs and improve profitability. Investment promotes the formal economy by supporting the graduation of its small business clients to the formal sector. In addition, the company contributes to the local knowledge base creation by recruiting relatively inexperienced recent graduates and training them in-house. The project is also classified as a gender project fulfilling the 2X Challenge criteria.