Nairobi, August 22, 2013
—IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, today provided a credit line of $ 50 million to I&M Bank Ltd. to support lending to small and medium businesses in Kenya.
I&M Bank will use the new credit line to offer affordable financial services and products to entrepreneurs in Kenya; to drive business growth across the country.
Sarit Raja Shah, Executive Director of I&M Bank, said “In Kenya, there is high demand for foreign currency funding to expand production capacity and enhance exports. The $50 million credit line from IFC is a milestone in I&M Bank’s business plan. It will secure long term foreign currency funds for I&M to lend onward to small and medium enterprises. The funding will also assist the bank in bridging its foreign exchange maturity mismatches”
Oumar Seydi, IFC Director for Eastern and Southern Africa, said, “IFC is committed to increasing access to finance in Africa, especially in rural areas where small businesses have more difficulty getting loans from commercial banks. IFC’s partnership with I&M Bank will extend financial services to rural Kenya’s businessmen and women, helping them grow their businesses and employ more workers.”
The partnership continues an investment relationship that began in 2005, when IFC first extended a $3.0 million loan and a trade finance facility to I&M Bank. With 21 branches in Kenya, I&M Bank has wide reach across the country. In recent years the bank has expanded into new markets, and has operations in Rwanda, Tanzania and Mauritius through its associates and subsidiaries.
Investing in local banks is an important component of IFC’s strategy to expand financial services in Africa. IFC’s investment and advisory services have developed partnerships with eleven banks and one microfinance institution in Kenya, to help them increase business with small and medium enterprises on a sustainable basis.
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 more than 100 countries, we use our capital, expertise, and influence to help eliminate extreme poverty and promote shared prosperity. In FY13, our investments climbed to an all-time high of nearly $25 billion, leveraging the power of the private sector to create jobs and tackle the world’s most pressing development challenges. For more information, visit
www.ifc.org
Stay Connected
About I&M Bank
I&M Bank Ltd, since its conversion to a full fledged commercial Bank in 1996, has followed a consistent growth trend, which has seen its balance sheet size expand to approx. Kshs. 120 Billion as at March 2013 coupled with an increase in its regional footprint with presence in Mauritius, Tanzania & Rwanda. I&M Bank Ltd was rated the 5th best bank in Kenya by the Banking Survey 2013 by Think Business Magazine and has 21 branches across the country supplemented by various alternate banking solutions.
