Washington D.C., April 18, 2015
—IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) will streamline lending procedures for joint investments to provide much-needed financing to private companies in emerging markets and boost economic growth and jobs.
JICA becomes the 25th development finance institution to sign IFC’s master cooperation agreement which standardizes steps that lenders take when co-financing projects with IFC. The agreement reduces time and financing costs for lenders and borrowers. Since the master cooperation agreement was created in 2009, signatories have co-invested more than $3 billion with IFC to support private sector development globally.
“Signing the agreement will deepen our cooperation with IFC and enable us to do more impactful work on the ground,” said Kiyoshi Kodera, Vice President of JICA. “We look forward to working with IFC to finance even more companies for private sector development in developing countries.”
IFC and Japan have a long-standing partnership to provide financing and advice to support the development of entrepreneurs and firms in emerging markets. IFC and JICA have collaborated in areas such as promoting public-private partnerships and helping to deepen and grow financial markets in emerging markets.
“IFC and JICA play a catalytic role in private sector development by providing long-term risk capital in challenging markets. Asia and Africa would be key joint investment destinations,” said Karin Finkelston, IFC’s Vice President for Global Partnerships. “The agreement will enable us to respond more swiftly to private sector financing needs when commercial financing is difficult to obtain, supporting job creation where it is needed most.”
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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About JICA
The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) is an independent administrative agency under the government of Japan and provides official development assistance (ODA) for the government of Japan. JICA’s mission is to assist economic and social growth in developing countries and to promote international cooperation. In addition to its ODA loans, grant aid and technical cooperation, JICA provides private sector financing to promote private sector development in developing countries. For more information, visit
http://www.jica.go.jp/english/index.html
