Nairobi/Dakar, September 10, 2014
—IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, provided billions of dollars of new financing and investment mobilization and delivered wide-ranging advisory services in sub Saharan Africa during its most recent fiscal year. IFC’s activities impacted 1.1 million farmers, provided $17 billion of financing to entrepreneurs, delivered health services to a million patients and improved quality of education for 117,000 students.
In coordination with other World Bank Group institutions, IFC’s work in sub Saharan Africa supported agriculture and power, job creation, health, education and capital markets.
IFC made new investments in 31 countries in sub-Saharan Africa during its 2014 fiscal year, totaling $4.6 billion. In partnership with MIGA, IFC mobilized an additional $343 million of financing for the private sector. IFC provided more than $4.0 million in new investments in the continent’s lowest income economies. New IFC commitments provide $800 million to countries affected by recent conflicts, including Cote d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo and Mali.
Drawing on support from the World Bank Group, African governments enacted over 70 reforms to improve business regulation. The impact of these reforms includes private sector cost savings of $25.5m in Ethiopia, thanks to more efficient imports and exports clearing procedures, an additional $106m in investment by new businesses in Rwanda generating 29 000 jobs, and levelled taxation between men and women in Cote d’Ivoire. The World Bank Group also supported the modernization of the Uniform Act on Companies, which led to more than 20 reforms of the investment climate among the 17 member countries of the Organization for the Harmonization of Business Law in Africa (OHADA).
IFC Advisory Services spending reached $64 million with projects active in 30 countries. Four new public-private partnership mandates were signed to improve access to power, water and roads.
Oumar Seydi, IFC Director for Eastern and Southern Africa, said, "IFC’s continued high level of activity in Sub-Saharan Africa reflects our support to private sector clients as they drive local economies forward. As part of the World Bank Group, IFC strives to deliver investments, knowledge and solutions based on global best practices, which in turn improves business and living standards in Africa.”
Saran Kebet-Koulibaly, IFC Director for West and Central Africa, said, “IFC’s strong focus on Africa, a priority region for us, is helping countries to develop critical infrastructure to support their development and improve lives, adopt policies to increase trade and investment across the continent, and improve the skills of the labor force thereby laying strong operating foundations for Africa's emerging and dynamic private sector.”
Agriculture, which accounts for half of Africa’s output, is an increasing priority. IFC’s investments in companies such as Saro Agro-sciences in Nigeria, Malawi Mangoes and the Terra maize farm in DRC increased food production and linked local farmers to global markets. IFC’s total investment in the sector, including support for trade and increased access to finance, reached $723 million in the 2014 fiscal year.
IFC puts a priority on infrastructure that spurs economic growth and improves living standards. IFC invested $1.1 billion in infrastructure projects across sub Saharan Africa, including Cote d’Ivoire’s Azito, CIPREL thermal power plant and the Singida Wind Farm in Tanzania, which will improve power supply and ease shortages. Under the World Bank Group Energy Business Plan, which brings together the policy expertise of the World Bank and the capacity of MIGA to mitigate risk and mobilize guarantees, IFC aims to catalyze investments to add 1,500 megawatts of capacity to the Nigerian national grid. The added capacity should provide electricity for up to 8.0 million households over the next 18 months.
IFC’s efforts to increase access to finance worked to boost employment and growth on the continent. Working with partner banks and financial institutions; IFC facilitated $ 17 billion worth of financing to entrepreneurs in Africa during the most recent fiscal year. In addition, 130,000 small businesses and farmers were trained on management practices.
IFC activities supported domestic capital markets while enhancing the value of IFC investments in commercial clients. IFC helped the Rwandan government develop the domestic bond market with the debut Umuganda bond. IFC issued its debut Zambezi bond in Zambia. Local currency loans in Nigeria, Rwanda and Zambia supported microfinance program clients, and hedge products for infrastructure clients in countries across the region helped them to mitigate and manage market risks.
About IFC
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is the largest global development institution focused exclusively on the private sector. Working with private enterprises in about 100 countries, we use our capital, expertise, and influence to help eliminate extreme poverty and boost shared prosperity. In FY14, we provided more than $22 billion in financing to improve lives in developing countries and tackle the most urgent challenges of development. For more information, visit
www.ifc.org
.
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