François Rancourt
François Rancourt is a seasoned development finance practitioner who combines more than 17 years of work in senior management positions, development and MSME Finance. During 4 years, he acted as the deputy CEO of CFE Tunisia, a greenfield microfinance institution, operated and led by Developpement International Desjardins (DID) who also partnered in seed capital with AfricInvest. Along with many other investors, DFIs and colleagues, he built the institution and all the lending-related departments from scratch before transferring the management to local talents in 2019.
Then, François pursued an experience of a lifetime by leaving North Africa on a sailing catamaran with his three kids and wife to discover the world. This sabbatical brought him from the Mediterranean islands, over the Atlantic to the Caribbeans. Prior to these personal challenges and experiences, he worked for Desjardins as a senior SME investment officer and served as a Managing director of an organic farmer’s cooperative in Qc, Canada.
François now works as an independent freelance consultant on technical assistance assignments related to MSME finance, financial inclusion and digital financial services. He helps addressing strategic and hands-on technical challenges related to risk management, lending and investment operations, product development, portfolio management and digitization. He currently collaborates with DFIs such as IFC, KfW, EBID, firms like ECORYS, GFA and the Frankfurt School of Finance in Africa (North, West and East) to help MFIs and Retail Banks strengthening their operations. He also volunteered in Nepal for a whole year as a marketing advisor to agri-business coops.
He holds a B.A in International Development Studies from Dalhousie University, NS and a Master’s degree in Cooperatives Administration from the Université of Sherbrooke. For 3 years, he lectured a masters level class on the development impact of social economy and cooperatives on local and international scales. François is passionate about closing the missing middle gap. He strives for a better access to finance for MSMEs and firmly believes in their potential to deliver jobs while being alert on social and environmental challenges.
Voting member: François Rancourt
Members since 2022