BNP Paribas has worked with ADIE (Association Pour le Droit à l'Initiative Economique) for some 15 years. This part of the program provides microcredit to help people who are unemployed or on a subsistence allowance start their own company. The Foundation will support six new “microcredit agencies” in underprivileged neighbourhoods in the next three years.

The goal is to help launch and nurture 700 new small businesses. Following Marseille, new microcredit agencies will soon be opened in troubled neighbourhoods around Lyon, Toulouse and the Paris region. In addition to financial support and expertise from Cetelem, BNP Paribas employees are also contributing to this initiative. Many of them, including a growing number of people approaching retirement, donate their time to help ADIE clients make their new business a reality.