African Guarantee Fund

The African Guarantee Fund (AGF) is a pan-African financial institution established in 2011 to facilitate access to finance for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) across Africa, thereby promoting economic development and poverty reduction. AGF provides guarantee products — including loan portfolio guarantees, individual loan guarantees, equity guarantees, and bank fundraising guarantees — that enable financial institutions to extend credit to SMEs by sharing the associated risk. The organization was founded by the Government of Denmark (DANIDA), the Government of Spain (AECID), and the African Development Bank, and has since grown its shareholder base to include the French Development Agency (AFD) and the Nordic Development Fund (NDF). AGF operates across the continent with a subsidiary in West Africa (AGF West Africa, based in Lomé, Togo) and its operational headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya.