The Cofina Group has reported strong growth of 60.7 percent in 2018, with a balance sheet total of 158 billion CFA francs (240 million euros) against 98 billion CFA francs in 2017 (150 million euros).
The outstanding deposits over the same period increased from 61 billion CFA francs to 104 billion CFA francs (158 million euros) and outstanding loans from 73 billion CFA francs to 112 billion CFA francs (170 million euros).
Founded in 2013, the Cofina Group has had a steady growth as a result of its continuous effort to serve the group’s clients in the six countries where it operates including Guinea, Senegal, Ivory Coast, Gabon, Mali, and Congo Brazzaville.
Cofina accurately analyzed the African SMEs need for financing institutions tailored to their specific needs, between microfinance and conventional finance. The Cofina group has developed expertise in the financing and support of African SMEs by occupying the missing link of mesofinance.
This has resulted in a steady growth in the number of its customers, which has rose to a total of 140,718 in 2018 compared to 99,566 in 2017, representing a growth of 31.3 percent in one year, for an annual number of credits granted of 23,257 in 2018 compared to 14,364 in 2017 (61.9% growth over one year).
The Cofina group also successfully launched a 10 billion CFA francs securitization transaction in April, of which the first tranche of 3.65 billion CFA francs was repaid in November 2018, and a second one in May 2019. Rating agency Wara also awarded “tAA” rating to the group.
“The year 2018 confirmed the trends developed in previous years,” said Jean-Luc Konan, CEO of the Cofina Group. “We are delighted to see that our intuitions are confirmed by the facts and that mesofinance is becoming progressively and rapidly an increasingly popular instrument of economic inclusion.”
Jean-Luc Konan added that the Cofina Group is committed to contributing to the emergence of both SMEs and future African multinationals because it is through the combination of their strengths that the growth of our economies will take off and become truly inclusive and massively job-creating.
