Pacifique Ndagano: successful microfinancier for small entrepreneurs in Congo

Thanks to an investment of 5 million dollars by BIO, the Congolese Microcredit Company (SMICO) can significantly expand its activities. We met CEO Pacifique Ndagano who has transformed the national institution into an indispensable tool in terms of financing for those who need it most. Behind this growth and digital transformation lies a deeply human story that drives this director.
 

The maternal spark: from personal hardship to a calling

To understand Pacifique's commitment, you have to go back to his roots in the Great Lakes region. As a young Congolese lad who grew up in Bukavu (DR Congo), he was educated at the prestigious Alfajiri Jesuit college, before building a solid academic background stretching from applied IT to financial management, later enriched by stints at the Frankfurt School of Finance and Management and HEC Paris Business School.

But the real engine of his ambition isn't found in economics textbooks. "My mum was a trader," he says with emotion. After his father passed away, she fought tirelessly to pay for her children's education, juggling informal savings and lending circles – ‘tontines’ - and enduring constant pressure from debt collectors. That poverty, seen up close, sparked a deep-seated calling in him: he would devote his career to making finance more accessible for those who need it most.

He wasn't simply parachuted into the boardroom; he worked his way up the ladder step by step. Starting out as a simple cashier and credit officer at a savings and credit union, he held all positions in the field until reaching management and executive positions. He then worked for the German development cooperation for a while, but then decided to recommit himself to financial inclusion in his country. When he took the helm at SMICO in 2018, he brought with him that invaluable experience: technical know-how combined with an intimate understanding of local realities.

Participatory leadership: "The result is everyone's business"

When he joined SMICO as CEO, he found a young, motivated team, which he decided to guide with a very clear vision of management. A proponent of collaborative leadership and a good listener, he compares his role to that of a football coach: everyone on the pitch must have the chance to score goals and share in the victory.

That inclusive approach has borne spectacular fruit. In seven years, the institution has made a giant leap, growing from a balance sheet of around $8.5 million to more than $50 million today. Under his leadership, SMICO stands out for its modernity and its quest for inclusion, offering a range of digital solutions to bypass physical obstacles: a mobile app, visa cards, WhatsApp solutions and direct transfers between bank accounts and mobile money wallets (smico money). The goal is total transparency and an agility that has already cut loan approval times to seven days, with the aim of bringing that down to three or four days soon.
 

Operating at the heart of crises: resilience as a way of life

Working in the microfinance sector in the Democratic Republic of Congo requires rock-solid mental and managerial robustness. Pacifique highlights the enormous challenges linked to a lack of infrastructure – a major hurdle given that 65% of the Congolese population lives in rural areas, far from the urban centres where financial services are usually concentrated.

Add to that a chronic and unpredictable instability. The region around Goma, where the institution operates, is regularly hit by natural disasters, such as volcanic eruptions, and by serious security crises, like the conflicts involving the M23 rebels. Faced with such tragedies, the director remains full of admiration for his customers. He describes a population capable of fleeing a threatened city one day, and coming back to rebuild it with the same energy the next. It's to support that incredible resilience that SMICO, as a pioneer in its field, also offers micro-insurance mechanisms to protect its borrowers' capital in case life throws them a curveball.
 

The partnership with BIO: a catalyst for the local economy

SMICO, originally founded by Belgian and Congolese entrepreneurs, has just taken another major step forward in its development by sealing a $5 million partnership with the Belgian Investment Company for Developing Countries (BIO). For Pacifique, this unprecedented support from a Belgian organisation is far more than just a financial boost: it's a huge recognition of the social impact and the soundness of his institution.

This strategic funding will allow SMICO to support a growing number of small and medium-sized enterprises, stimulate the national economy, and create masses of jobs. A fine victory for that boy from Bukavu who, looking back at how far he's come, offers one simple yet essential piece of advice to anyone who wants to make a difference: "You've got to work hard, believe in your project, and never give up."