The Megaphone

The Mégaphone, the national consultation launched in February with entrepreneurs financed by the Association for the right to economic initiative(Adie), will have resounded up to the highest levels of government. For the 30th anniversary of the first microcredit actor in France, celebrated this Thursday evening, the government has decided to give a boost to the development of the sector. The Social Cohesion Fund, managed by the Caisse des Dépôts, will thus see its endowment (of 14 million euros in 2018) increase by about 10% per year for five years. The goal is to reach €2 billion in outstanding loans by 2023, compared with €1.4 billion at the end of 2016. In order to widen access to microcredit, Bruno Le Maire also proposes to remove the age limit of the beneficiary company.

160,000 microcredits since 1989

Currently, only companies less than five years old for a first loan, and less than seven years old for a second, can access microcredit. Finally, the Minister of Economy promises to mobilize banks to systematically direct clients who do not have access to traditional financing to microcredit actors. All of these measures are drawn from the proposals that Adie collected during its national consultation. In 2017, the association created by Maria Nowak granted 21,000 microcredits, 10% more than in 2016. Loans that can range from 1,000 to 10,000 euros, the average amount being 4,000 euros. The association with 500 employees and 1,300 volunteers has granted some 160,000 microcredits since 1989.