“Empowering entrepreneurship for all“
Business creation has doubled in France in the space of 10 years. From 2012 to 2022, 8.2 million companies were created according to Bpifrance. The million mark was exceeded in 2021 and 2022, with a level almost twice as high as in 2012 and 2013. However, the growing desire to be an entrepreneur contrasts with persisting restrictive conditions for access to credit, especially for microentrepreneurs. In other words, without formal qualifications, without networks and without capital, it is far more difficult to obtain bank financing. It was to combat these obstacles that Maria Nowak created the French microfinance institution “Association pour le droit à l’initiative économique” (Adie - Association for the right to economic initiative) 35 years ago, to provide everyone with access to capital and support in setting up their own business, a mission that remains relevant today.
The process has been complicated as a result of two technological developments that have further excluded vulnerable groups from access to credit: the digitisation of application for financing, on the one hand, and the omnipresence of risk scores in the decision-making process on the other. This is where Adie comes in. In 2023, we financed and supported nearly 26,000 business creators. We also helped 7,000 future employees or employees in insecure jobs to buy or repair a vehicle in order to get back onto the job market or remain employed. We have achieved concrete results, which we measure in our surveys: three years after our involvement, 93% of people supported are still employed and 81% of the companies created are still in business.
+ 43 %
This is the increase in the number of professional microloans granted in France in 2022 compared to 2021.
Source : 2022 report of the “Observatoire de l’inclusion bancaire”, published on 26 June 2023.
We could not fulfil our mission without our partners, with BNP Paribas occupying a special place among them. Through our joint work carried out over the past 30 years and the €210 million in loans granted by the bank for the direct financing of our microloan portfolio, we have supported 46,000 people in getting back to work. We also draw on the expertise of BNP Paribas’ current and former employees, who boost the ranks of our volunteers and engage in philanthropy and skills-based sponsorship. We’re delighted to have signed a new three-year partnership that will enable us to think even bigger for microentrepreneurs.
“Association pour le droit à l’initiative économique“ (Adie)
Created in 1989 by Maria Nowak, a microloan pioneer in France and Europe, Adie (Association for the right to economic initiative) supports the idea that business creation must be open to all. This community association provides entrepreneurs with financing and professional support to help them launch their business, regardless of their profession and status. Adie relies on a network of specialists in more than 180 branches and 300 meeting points throughout mainland France and in the French Overseas Departments and Territories.