Accra, Dec. 17, GNA - Societe-Generale-Social Security Bank (SG-SSB)=

and Agence Fraincaise de Developpment (AFD) on Thursday signed three cred= it facility agreements to support Small, Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs) in Ghana dubbed: "ARIZ agreement". The agreements comprised a GH¢10 million portfolio, GH¢3 million=

individual guarantee (micro financing) and GH¢ 500,000 (250,000 Euros) grant to support SG-SSB Limited in its downscaling strategy.

The ARIZ agreement is an AFD guarantee scheme to facilitate the financing of SMEs, which would allow the bank to act as the credit institution while AFD would serve as the guarantor. The agreement was signed by Mr Alain Belissard, Managing Director of=

SG-SSB, French Ambassador, Mr Jean-Louis Mattei, Head of SG International=

Division and Mr Bruno Le Clerc, AFD Resident Manager. The agreement would serve the SMEs considered too big and independen= t and constitute the trademark of microfinance and too small to receive adequate attention from traditional commercial banks.

Besides they are perceived as more risky by the banks to be served. Mr Hurtut described SMEs as major actors in the economic growth of Ghana, which provided source of income generation and employment. He said the agreement was brokered through AFD and Proparco, its subsidiary to finance the private sector and support SMEs and microfinanc= e institutions in accessing medium and long term financing.

"In this framework ARIZ guarantee mechanism has been developed by AF= D as an easy to use process aimed at sharing risks with commercial banks," Mr Hurtut said.

He said to date SG overall AFDs interventions mainly in Africa had b= een the banking group, which had made the most of the ARIZ guarantee mechanis= m with 36 per cent guarantees granted in terms of financial size. In Ghana SG-SSB is the first to have used ARIZ.

Mr Mattei said SG-SSB as a business model want to develop as a universal bank in Ghana, adding that the financial entity was not in Ghan= a only to make profit but to facilitate national development efforts as wel= l. Mr Bellissard said the agreement was intended to support medium term=

investments, which was lacking in Ghana. He said the bank was carrying out credit appraisal to reduce the cos= t of doing business in Ghana and that would include interest rates. Mr Le Clerc said the agreement would provide various financial instruments to assist private companies.

AFD started its operations in Ghana in 1985, marking the opening of the first AFD representation in an English speaking country. AFD has concentrated its operations in major economic infrastructure=

development projects in the telecommunications, transport and energy sectors. SG-SSB limited is a subsidiary of SG, a leading financial service in=

the Euro zone.

The group focuses in three core businesses: Retail Banking and Financial Services. ARIZ is a risk-sharing tool facilitating access to bank credit and guarantee improve business access to the developing countries. It is present in more than 20 countries mainly Africa.