Proparco grants €20 million loan to DFCC Bank | Page 3 | Sunday Observer

Proparco grants €20 million loan to DFCC Bank

13 August, 2017

Reaffirming its credentials as a preferred partner for international credit lines, DFCC Bank was granted a long term loan of €20 million by Proparco, a subsidiary of Agence Française de Développement - an organisation devoted to private sector financing, to finance renewable energy projects and improve access to credit for Small and Medium Enterprises in Sri Lanka.

DFCC has decades of experience in promoting development finance among the SME sector in the country, with an established record of a successful foray into the renewable energy sector.

CEO Proparco, Grégory Clemente said, “We are pleased to partner with DFCC to strengthen Sri Lanka’s SMEs. SMEs account for 70% of businesses, employ 26% of the active population and contribute 52% of GDP, making them a critical growth engine.

Strengthening SMEs is a key growth opportunity, in line with the vision of the Sri Lankan Government which stresses the major role of banks in SME finance. DFCC will use the loan to boost the proportion of SMEs in its portfolio – which already stands at nearly 50%. We are also pleased to support a Bank that is already active in financing renewable energy.”

DFCC CEO Arjun Fernando said, “DFCC is a pioneer in supporting renewable energy projects, having supported the first hydro project in 1996 and many large scale renewable energy projects including wind and solar energy.

“DFCC has extensive experience in financing renewable energy projects. As a fully-fledged commercial bank, we are poised to empower more projects to create greater energy security for the nation.

“We are proud of our record in standing by SMEs in their early and risky stages, enabling them to eventually to become big names in their respective sectors.

“The Bank also adds significant value by offering entrepreneurship training programmes, technical and marketing support to SMEs.

“Long-term finance of this magnitude is difficult to obtain in the domestic market, and we believe the credit line by Proparco will empower us to propel the SME sector to the next stage of development,” he said.

DFCC financed the country’s first wind farm in 2010 and its first solar power plant in 2015.

The bank is currently providing funding for 70 hydro power projects, three wind farms and two solar energy projects as well as a biomass project. 

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