Supporting access to essential goods and services

Access to essential services is one of the major challenges developing countries face and is central to SDGs. Proparco, by virtue of its mandate, is committed to supporting access to essential services within the countries it operates in.

Through its financings, Proparco has supported access to essential services in 2020 to almost 13.7 million9 people, primarily in the energy sector, for 54% of beneficiaries, followed by healthcare, financial inclusion, water and sanitation, education and telecommunications.

Number of beneficiaries accessing essential services, by category

9 Access to essential goods and services: 53% coverage rate in 2020 (48 projects with access data available for 90 from education, healthcare, energy, microfinance, telecommunications, and water and sanitation sectors).

Energy

7,402,161

Water and sanitation

805,600

Healthcare

3,155,531

Education

481,567

Microfinance

1,753,155

Telecommunications

90,000

Access to healthcare: 3.1 million people have benefitted from access to improved healthcare services

Regarding healthcare, clients accompanied by Proparco have supported 3.1 million consultations and as many improved accesses to a healthcare service, via 4 projects . Furthermore, Proparco financings have supported access to 14.6 million pharmacy clients and access to 8.3 million laboratory analyses11 .

Loan Monitoring the BURSA hospital: supporting the construction of a hospital in Turkey under a public-private partnership

In 2017, Proparco’s financing (15M€) for the benefit of the project owner company BRS Saglik Yatirim AS, set up at the initiative of Meridiam and Rönesans, is for the design, construction and maintenance of a public hospital offering 1,355 beds in Bursa. Costing a total 515 M€, the hospital has enabled an improved quality, accessibility and diversity of hospital services in the province of Bursa (cancer treating services, cardiology, radiotherapy, maternity and paediatric healthcare, emergency and intensive care), thereby accompanying Turkey in its policy to improve its public healthcare offering as well as access to care for populations.12 In 2020, almost 760,000 consultations were carried out at the hospital and more than 50,000 patients were hospitalized for an average 5-day stay during the year.

Access to education: 481,567 students benefitted from improved access to education

Projects financed by Proparco between 2015 and 2019 have supported access to education, notably in countries where the rates of completing secondary education is the lowest (54% in Colombia, less than 50% in Thailand and in Cambodia, less than 30% in Sub-Saharan Africa according to a World Bank study). According to UN study, Covid-19 has generated a 20-year loss of progress in terms of access to education10. In total, 9 projects (5 funds and 4 enterprises) have enabled 481,567 students to be supported, including more than 400,000 thanks to an on-line course platform.

10 https://sdgs.un.org/goals/goal4

11 Pharmacy clients and laboratory analyses clients are not currently considered as people accessing a healthcare service according to the methodology developed by Proparco. 12 ONU, https://sdgs.un.org/goals/goal3

Access to energy: 7.4 million people have gained improved access to energy

In 2020, 33 energy production projects (solar, wind, hydroelectric and gas) have enabled more than 7.4 million people to enjoy improved access to electricity. In total, 31 of the projects monitored in 2020 were renewable energy infrastructures and made it possible for 2.7 million people to benefit from improved access to electricity. These solar projects reach out to beneficiaries mainly located in low/middle-income countries. The map below highlights the location of beneficiaries13 alongside different country needs in electricity. The projects financed by Proparco and monitored in 2020 are mostly located in zones lacking access to electricity, notably Africa.

13 This monitoring includes 33 projects dedicated to the production of electricity for which data monitoring access in 2020 was available.

Financial inclusion: 1.8 million micro-credit beneficiaries

Access to financial services for very small businesses is a strategic priority for Proparco. In 2020, 1,753,155 people accessed a micro-credit thanks to microfinance institutions supported by Proparco. Financial institutions made the most significant impacts in terms of financial inclusion. Additionally, at least 1.6 million credits dedicated to small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) were granted in 2020 by Proparco’s clients14 . The microfinance institutions supported by Proparco with available data in 2020 were located in Asia and in low/middleincome countries (41.8% accesses, i.e.: 930,565 microcredits).15

Access to drinkable water and to telecommunication services

In 2020, a project led by China Water Affairs Group enabled improved access to water for 805,600 people in the Jiangxi and Hubei provinces. Furthermore, just one project enabled improved access to telecommunication services in 2020: the Sawari Ventures fund, signed in 2018. This fund, through its investee Moneyflows that offers on-line loan and savings solutions in Egypt, enabled 90,000 people to access a telecommunication service.

14 Loans allocated to SMEs are not considered as access to a financial inclusion service according to the methodology developed by Proparco. 15 Among the 20 microfinance projects monitored in 2020, 9 projects provided a reporting concerning access (number of micro-credits granted) throughout 2020. Furthermore, other financial institutions which are Proparco clients but not specialized in microfinance have reported more than 200,000 micro-credits in 2020.

Share of population with access to electricity in 2019 and access to electricity in 2020 made possible by Proparco financing

100%

from 50% to 99,9%

from 10% to 49,9%

Less than 10%

20 countries with greatest “access deficit”

Source : Banque mondiale © Connaissance des Énergies

83%

Number of electricity access (2020)

Bujagali, hydroelectric station in uganda (signed in 2018)

Supporting the Bujagali project in Uganda, a fragile zone in terms of access, has enabled 837,415 people to access electricity in 2020.