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Frankfurt am Main, Germany, July 13, 2020—
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is providing a $100-million senior loan to ProCredit Holding (PCH) to be channeled to ProCredit banks in nine countries to support small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in multiple vulnerable economies. The loan is targeted to help SMEs withstand the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, which is devastating businesses around the world.
SMEs across developing countries are experiencing strained cash-flows, lower profit margins, and balance-sheet constraints, and are in need of working capital. ProCredit will channel the financing to its subsidiaries in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ecuador, Kosovo, Moldova, North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, and Ukraine. Local ProCredit banks in these countries will extend new trade-related or working-capital loans to their SME-clients to help sustain their operations and employment levels.
“We believe that the ProCredit banks are well placed to play a significant and positive role supporting small and medium enterprises, and are convinced that a robust SME sector will be central to post-pandemic economic recovery” said ProCredit Holding’s Management Board. “We are confident that the loan agreement with PCH’s long-standing partner IFC will enable strongly positioned SMEs to develop and take advantage of new business opportunities.”
“This financing is designed to support SMEs whose cashflows have been impacted by the pandemic” said Vittorio Di Bello, IFC’s Regional Head of Industry for Financial Institutions in Europe and Central Asia. “ProCredit’s SME focus and extensive geographic outreach will be instrumental in improving access to financing to these enterprises, which are usually underserved and in need of it the most.”
The loan is being funded through IFC’s Working Capital Solutions (WCS) program, which represents $2 billion of IFC’s $8-billion fast-track COVID-19 financing package. The WCS program is designed to provide funding to emerging-market banks to extend credit to help businesses shore up their working capital, which firms use to pay their bills and preserve jobs.
IFC is also a shareholder in ProCredit Holding AG & Co. KGaA and has invested $90 million in its debut green-bond placement in 2019.
About IFC
IFC - a sister organization of the World Bank and member of the World Bank Group—is the largest global development institution focused on the private sector in emerging markets. We work in more than 100 countries, using our capital, expertise, and influence to create markets and opportunities in developing countries. In fiscal year 2019, we invested more than $19 billion in private companies and financial institutions in developing countries, leveraging the power of the private sector to end extreme poverty and boost shared prosperity. For more information, visit
www.ifc.org
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About ProCredit Holding AG & Co. KGaA
ProCredit Holding AG & Co. KGaA, based in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, is the parent company of the development-oriented ProCredit group, which consists of commercial banks for SMEs. In addition to its operational focus on South Eastern and Eastern Europe, the ProCredit group is also active in South America and Germany. The company’s shares are traded on the Prime Standard segment of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. The anchor shareholders of ProCredit Holding AG & Co. KGaA include the strategic investors Zeitinger Invest and ProCredit Staff Invest (the investment vehicle for ProCredit staff), the Dutch DOEN Participaties BV, KfW Development Bank, and IFC (part of the World Bank Group). As the group’s super-ordinated company according to the German Banking Act, ProCredit Holding AG & Co. KGaA is supervised on a consolidated level by the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (Bundesanstalt für Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht, BaFin) and the German Bundesbank. For additional information, visit:
www.procredit-holding.com
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