Lasting improvements for clients’ businesses, livelihoods and resilience
How can we ensure that our financial services help clients grow their businesses and farms while improving their overall wellbeing? How can we help them build the financial stability needed to withstand life’s shocks, whether a medical emergency, a climate event, or a sudden rise in inflation? How can we ensure that women have the same opportunities to thrive and prosper as their male counterparts?
These questions are at the heart of our impact strategy and our commitment to responsible finance.
Steven Duchatelle CEO Advans International
Advans Social Goals
Advans has established five social goals to guide and structure its impact priorities across its African subsidiaries. These goals are aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
The indicators are monitored annually to track Advans’progress toward achieving its social goals.
1. Have a positive impact on client’s revenues and savings through supporting their activities and building their financial stability.
2. Reach out to underserved populations with appropriate products and channels.
3. Provide clients with quality services in a transparent, respectful and conscientious manner.
4. Create a fair, healthy and dynamic working environment four our staff.
5. Be accountable and support the shifts to more resilient and sustainable economies.
1. Have a positive impact on clients’ revenues and savings
Advans aims to support its clients’ business growth, improve their quality of life and build resilience, using feedback collected through 60 Decibels studies to identify areas where it can enhance its impact.
Client Distribution Across Subsidiaries1
Our portfolio includes 93,000 borrowers, and 74% of our clients hold a microbusiness loan2.
Total Volume of Loans Disbursed1
In 2025, 98,000 loans were disbursed, with an average loan size of €5,314.
Measuring client impact against global benchmarks
Clients declaring they have ‘very much increased’ their business income since joining Advans3
Advans Group
Global Benchmark3
Advans Tunisia
Advans CAMEROUN
Clients declaring they have increased the number of employees since joining Advans3
Advans Group
Global Benchmark4
Advans Côte d’ivoire
Advans Cameroun
Clients declaring their quality of life has ‘very much improved’ since joining Advans3
Advans Group
Global BENCHMARK3
Advans Côte d’ivoire
Advans Tunisia
Clients declaring that their savings have ‘very much increased’ since joining Advans3
Advans Group
Global Benchmark3
Advans Côte d’Ivoire
Advans Cameroun
Clients saying their ability to manage their finances has ‘very much improved’ since joining Advans
Advans Group
Global Benchmark3
Advans Tunisia
Advans Cameroun
Advans Nigeria
Clients saying their spending on Education has ‘very much increased’ since joining Advans3
Advans Group
Global Benchmark3
Advans Ghana
Advans Cameroun
Clients saying their ability to visit Health professionals has ‘very much increased’ since joining Advans3
Advans Group
Global benchmark3
Advans Cameroun
Advans Tunisia
2. Reach out to underserved populations
Advans is expanding its physical and digital channels to increase access for underserved populations, with targeted outreach to farmers and gender smart programs & services to help women overcome financial barriers. Access to financial services among younger populations is also an important dimension of Advans’ outreach, with 20% of borrowers aged between 18 and 34.
Number of branches by subsidiary
Measuring client impact against global benchmarks
Clients saying they are accessing loans for the first time2
Advans Group
Global benchmark3
Advans congo
Advans Ghana
Women’s Empowerment1
34% of our overall portfolio consists of women, 87% of whom benefit from a microenterprise loan.
Agricultural Support
16%
of our borrowers operate in the agricultural sector.
This indicator reflects the importance of agriculture within our client base.
19%
of our loan portfolio volume are dedicated to our agricultural sector.
A significant share of our portfolio therefore supports the financing of agricultural activities.
I own three hectares and produce at least a ton and a half per year. […] Before, my production was not enough. Being part of a cooperative allowed me to get fertilizer and benefit from training to learn new techniques, how to treat cocoa properly, and how to sell our products well.
Hervé
Cocoa farmer, Côte d’Ivoire
Digital Financial Services1
42%
of our clients
are registered for our digital channels, via the mobile app or USSD.
72%
of transactions
are carried out through digital alternative channels (outside branches).
8%
of loans
are disbursed digitally.
3. Provide clients with quality services
Advans creates value for clients through personalized support, efficient services, and responsible finance practices. In 2025, € 91 millions loans were renewed automatically, representing 25% of all loan renewals, enabling loyal clients to access financing more quickly and seamlessly.
Client Protection Certification
The Group also continued to strengthen its commitment to client protection, with three subsidiaries now certified. These certifications were granted by the independent international rating agency, MFR and place the Advans network among the first in Africa to receive this level of certification under the new Client Protection standards. Advans now aims to certify all its subsidiaries by early 2027 and to achieve Gold level across all subsidiaries by 2030.
Measuring client impact against global benchmarks
Clients never having to reduce food consumption to make payments3
Advans Group
Global Benchmark3
Advans Côte d’Ivoire
Advans Ghana
Clients never having received an unexpected fee or charge at Advans3
Advans group
global benchmark3
Advans ghana
Advans tunisie
Strengthening service quality through proximity and client protection
1,373
Client relationship officers
68
Borrowers per client relationship officer
7,4
Average time to resolve a complaint (days)
3,7%
PAR 305
4. Create a fair, healthy and dynamic working environment
Advans is committed to creating a fair, healthy, and dynamic working environment for its employees. At the end of 2025, the Group employed 3,500 staff members across its six subsidiaries. With an average staff tenure of 4,1 years and an average age of 34 years, Advans benefits from a workforce that combines experience, stability, and dynamism.
Staff Across our Subsidiaries1
Women Staff Across our Subsidiaries1
51% of our staff are women, demonstrating strong gender representation across our network.
5. Be accountable
Advans is strengthening its environmental and social risk management framework, embedding climate risk assessments across operations, and training staff to help clients build resilience to climate-related shocks.
3
Subsidiairies with a climate strategy6
77%
Staff having completed climate training7
22%
Clients vulnerable to climate change7
Loans per E&S Risk Category8
To further enhance responsible lending practices, all six subsidiaries have Environmental and Social Performance Management (ESPM)9 training in place, enabling staff to better assess risks and support clients in building resilience to climate-related challenges.
To learn more about Advans’ performance and achievements, we invite you to read the 2025 Financial Report.
1Data as of 31 December 2025
2Micro business loans are defined according to the World Bank as loans of up to USD 5,000 for MSMEs and farmers (excluding retail loans).
3Data from the 60 Decibels “Microfinance Index 2026” study, conducted in local languages during the first quarter of 2026. For each indicator, we present the performance of the Advans Group (a sample of 1,722 clients across our six markets), the performance of the overall 60 Decibels panel (18,709 clients from 65 institutions worldwide), and the performance of the two best-performing Advans institutions for that indicator
460 Decibels (60dB) data not available
5PAR 30 (Portfolio at Risk > 30 days): share of the outstanding loan portfolio for which at least one payment is more than 30 days overdue.
6Advans Côte d’Ivoire, Advans Ghana and Advans Tunisia
7Performance indicators for the three pilot subsidiaries with a climate strategy: Advans Côte d’Ivoire, Advans Ghana and Advans Tunisia
8Excluding the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)
9Environmental and Social Performance Management (ESPM)