Solidis Garantie

Better access to finance for SMEs in Madagascar

Madagascar

The financial institution Solidis Garantie supports small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Madagascar by providing guarantees and facilitating their access to finance.

The Malagasy SME sector has been suffering since the start of the economic and political crisis in 2009 and an estimated 200,000 formal jobs have disappeared since. The country is implementing a series of initiatives to improve the business climate and strengthen the SME sector to tackle this situation. One of the intervention areas is providing better access to finance.

Solidis was created in 2008 by a group of young entrepreneurs of the 'Young Entrepreneurs of Madagascar' think-tank. It manages a guarantee fund that facilitates access to finance for SMEs. In 2016 Solidis received the award for 'Best African Company'.

Solidis has been an Oikocredit partner since 2018.

The institution’s innovative guarantee product enable Solidis to support a wide range of entrepreneurs. With a guarantee, an enterprise can apply for a bank loan, which is (partly) covered by the guarantee. This means banks are more likely to disburse a loan to SMEs, which often lack the required collateral.

In addition to financial products, Solidis also offers SME training on financial literacy, negotiation skills and marketing.