Participate in infrastructure financing

Whether from its European bases or through its 19 locations on the African continent, Societe Generale Group is deeply involved in financing infrastructure in Africa.

The bank has been the first French bank financing infrastructure in Africa over the past 5 years. Infrastructures cover several sectors, including Energy, Transports, Telecoms networks, Environment, and Health.

Infrastructure financing is a key factor in Africa's development, and Societe Generale has decided to put a specific set-up in place on the continent, ,by creating platforms dedicated to infrastructure financing. Based in Algeria, Morocco and Côte d'Ivoire and staffed by dozens of experts, their mission is to deploy Societe Generale's expertise in structured finance in the countries where Societe Generale is present, as close as possible to clients and their projects. This set-up, which is complementary to what Societe Generale offers through its Investment Banking teams in Europe, allows the bank to commit to very ambitious growth objectives and to increase its financial commitments related to structured finance in Africa, including infrastructure financing, by 20% over 3 years.

It is in this perspective that the Group's approach is to work and reflect with local, regional and international financial partners, on solutions to widen the universe of financing:

• find new sources of financing in local currency,
• extend the maturity of these financings by raising credits,
• put in place structures to free themselves from sovereign guarantees,
• contribute to the deployment of new products offered by investment funds or development agencies..

Thus, in Maghreb and sub-Saharan Africa, Societe Generale plays a major role in financing infrastructure, wherever necessary, while supporting sustainable solutions aimed at improving the daily lives of populations.

Societe Generale thus contributes to the financing of various infrastructure projects:

• in the environmental sector, notably concerning access to water,
• in the transportation sector: road or railroad construction, financing of port and airport facilities,
• in the energy production and distribution sector, with the financing of hydroelectric, wind or solar power plant projects,
• in the health sector, including the financing of hospitals,
• in the telecom sector, which play an important role in the economic development of many African countries and allow for greater inclusion of local populations.