SIDI

SIDI

Founded in 1983 by the NGO CCFD-Terre Solidaire, SIDI operates as a solidarity investor that raises patient capital from a community of more than 2,000 individual shareholders in France. It then deploys that capital primarily as equity participations in microfinance institutions, agricultural cooperatives, and small rural banks across Africa, Asia, and Latin America. The firm’s mission is to finance populations excluded from conventional banking, particularly in fragile and conflict-affected zones where commercial investors typically do not operate. SIDI deploys capital across microfinance, agricultural value chains, and small enterprise lending. It typically takes minority equity stakes in local partner institutions — such as FDL in Ecuador, Centenary Bank in Uganda, and SIPEM Banque in Madagascar — rather than issuing direct loans to end beneficiaries. It also participates in blended-finance vehicles like FEFISOL, alongside the Belgian solidarity investor Alterfin. Geographic focus spans West Africa (Burkina Faso, Togo), East Africa (Uganda, Burundi), Madagascar, Latin America (Peru, Ecuador), and the Middle East (Palestine). SIDI provides technical assistance alongside its capital, often holding board seats to strengthen governance at partner institutions. SIDI’s capital base is unusual: it is raised directly from a community of over 2,000 retail shareholders organized through the association Epargne Solidarité Développement. In April 2026, SIDI appointed Anne-Sophie Bougouin as its new Dirigeante, succeeding long-time leadership. The firm maintains operational offices in Kampala, Antananarivo, Lomé, and Bujumbura, alongside its Paris headquarters. It is a member of the Global Alliance for Banking on Values and the European Microfinance Platform, and operates a separate philanthropic foundation, the ACTES Foundation, focused on ecological and social transition. SIDI is structurally distinct from both conventional asset managers and many impact investors: it is a shareholder-funded solidarity enterprise, not a fund manager. Its capital does not revolve through a traditional fund structure with a fixed term and return target. Instead, it builds permanent balance-sheet equity in local financial intermediaries and reinvests returns over multi-decade horizons, making it a long-term anchor investor in fragile markets where exits are rarely viable.