About Impact Credit Solutions

Equity Banque Commerciale du Congo is a subsidiary of Equity Group Holdings Plc (EGH) following the acquisition of a majority stake in BCDC by in July 2020. Equity BCDC is the second largest bank in the Democratic Republic of Congo with a balance sheet of $2.5 billion and a nationwide presence of 74 branches, 214 ATMs, 13 dedicated field offices, 1,340 agents, and approximately 1.5 million customers.

EquityBCDC is the leading reference bank in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The Equity Group is the largest bank by market capitalization in Central and East Africa. In 2020, Equity was ranked 7th in The Banker’s Africa’s Top 10 Banks list, becoming the 1st bank in East and Central Africa to reach this milestone, paving the way for East African banks to play in the league of big banks with South Africa, North Africa and West Africa.

The bank was ranked 5th in strength, 9th in growth, 8th in return on risk and 6th in profitability. In the same year, Moody’s assigned the bank an overall rating of B2 with a negative outlook, identical to the Kenyan government’s sovereign rating, based on the bank’s strong brand recognition, liquidity capacity, resilient funding profile, well-established domestic operations, and widespread adoption of digital and alternative technologies.

The Program

The social investment division aims at transforming lives through the development of innovative programs around 6 core pillars: health, food & agriculture, education & leadership development, energy & environment, enterprise development & financial inclusion, social protection.
EquityBCDC aims to partner with women and promote women entrepreneurship through programs such as:

1. Financial education and banking for women
2. Training and financial support for women small and medium-sized business owners
3. Financial literacy training for women entrepreneurs

EquityBCDC has trained 1,518 women in financial literacy and rural entrepreneurship.
In order to encourage and support them to engage in entrepreneurship, Equity Group has launched a credit facility to empower women to develop their businesses, create wealth and jobs and inspire other women entrepreneurs.

We partner with development organizations such as the Mastercard Foundation and FSDA to make a difference at scale in communities.
The social investment division propels the socio-economic prosperity of Africa’s people by empowering millions of beneficiaries to integrate into the modern economy through access to inclusive financial services.

1. The Indonesian Resilience Fund, a US$40 million fund that provides credit to SMEs within the healthcare and essential goods sector. The GLI framework for this fund means they focus on healthcare opportunities that benefit the needs of women, for example, financing ultrasound equipment for maternal care by hospitals and midwives.
2. The Women Empowerment Initiative, a dedicated woman lending program with a target facility size of US$100 million to provide capital loans for women-owned SMEs in Southeast Asia.