On Thursday 15 October 2020 the second year class of the ALPI Master’s degree had the pleasure of welcoming Xavier HEUDE to the University of Rennes 2. After working for almost twenty years in banking, most notably as a manager of their SME clientele, and in the management of projects related to the in-house organization of services, he decided to leave the banking sector in 2012. His objective was to devote himself to developing financial activities that can have a positive impact on society, which he felt he was not able to do in a traditional banking environment. In fact, according to Xavier HEUDE, the banking and financial sectors can act as a lever for development in order to contribute to economic and social development on a global scale. However, the banking sector does not seem particularly interested in virtuous economic and social development.
His offering is one which is not so common in today’s financial market, invest to protect human dignity and respond to the social and environmental challenges of today’s world ; noting the unequal distribution of wealth around the world and the growing number of companies needing financing for their projects, he co-founded the company “BACKBONE” in 2016. BACKBONE, based in Luxembourg, is a consultancy firm specialising in credit for SMEs, with a particular focus on emerging countries. But what is Xavier HEUDE’s objective? To ensure that his actions have a meaning, a positive impact, even if only minimal, which his former job did not allow him to do.
Today, BACKBONE operates in the Philippines, The Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Mexico, Peru and Ecuador. The company, whose strategy is in line with the growth of the social and solidarity economy and socially responsible investment, works with local financial partners to identify SMEs seeking financing for their growth.
For BACKBONE to work with an SME, it must be active in at least one of the four sectors of activity recognised for their contribution to the common good, which are agriculture, education, health or community inclusion. Furthermore, in order to ensure that the SMEs financed actually protect human dignity, BACKBONE has developed indicators to measure it (indicators such as events celebrated in the company, extra-wage benefits, employee access to training, etc.).
We learned about the world of finance, the two pillars that make it up (the banks and the investment fund), but also that BACKBONE’s activity was structured into four areas, which are financial analysis, socio-economic analysis, social impact analysis and communication/marketing.
Lastly, it was interesting to note that the company co-founded by Xavier HEUDE focused on several sectors such as the medical sector (in Mexico), the food industry (in Peru), or transport (in the Ivory Coast), these are sectors as different and varied as the countries with which BACKBONE works.
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