The African continent, which is home to about a billion people, is growing. As a result, there are a lot of developmental programs currently being undertaken. These developmental initiatives are pioneered by governments, parastatals, development agencies as well as multi-lateral and bi-lateral financing institutions. In a nutshell, development finance focuses on the financing of development in emerging economies, from the household level through to the national level. Development financing normally entails massive capital flows which are earmarked for the development of both soft and hard infrastructure within sustainable parameters.
The financing of such programs can be daunting due to their scale, and there is need for diligence when dealing with them. At Fortis, we have a team of specialised and highly qualified development finance specialists with a strong bias towards the African continent. Our key focus areas include;
Microfinance
Microfinance is the provision of financial services which include credit, savings, insurance, remittances, money transfers, and leasing to the poor and low-income people. This role is made difficult by the fact that more often the poor do not conform to the conventional terms of banking business. Microfinance clients hardly have collateral and more often do not have financial records. This makes them difficult to assess to the conventional banking system for financial transactions.
Modern practice has proven that through specially crafted ingenious interventions, microfinance can be a profitable and sustainable business. At Fortis, we create sustainable microfinance models and advise on the ethical methods of managing the business based on modern microfinance practice and standards.
Project and infrastructure finance
Project financing by nature is complex. The sophistication usually emanates from the size and long tenors naturally inherent within the projects. At Fortis, we have specialized skills in this area, relentlessly focusing on the construction of financial models, risk analysis, assessment, quantification, mitigation and transfer mechanisms in projects.
The African continent does not have a shortage of bankable ideas; the main is the inability of sponsors to develop viable business cases. Through careful structuring and the use of mezzanine and subordinated facilities we can craft viable business cases, hence making project finance bankable.