WASHINGTON, D.C., Oct. 5 -- The International Finance Corporation (IFC) has announced the opening of a Resident Mission in Johannesburg. The Mission, which will be fully operational on November 1, will be responsible for IFC's activities in South Africa. According to Jemal-ud-din Kassum, IFC Vice President for Operations, "Opening this mission reflects the priority which IFC attaches to our private sector investment effort in South Africa and the region. The Mission is expected to be very helpful in expanding our business relationships with prospective clients." IFC has named Vincent Rague as Resident Representative. Mr. Rague, a Kenyan national, joined the Capital Markets Division of IFC's Sub-Saharan Africa Department as a senior investment officer in 1992. Prior to joining IFC, he worked at the World Bank, which he joined under the Bank's Young Professionals Program in 1984. Mr. Rague's first assignment as a Young Professional at the World Bank was as a country economist in Latin America and the Caribbean.
He subsequently held a series of positions as a sector economist and senior operations officer in Eastern and Southern Africa. Mr. Rague was educated at the University of Nairobi and the Darden Business School at the University of Virginia. IFC recently approved its first two investments in South Africa, a US$3.75 million equity participation in the South Africa Franchise Capital Fund and a US$9.2 million equity participation in African Life Assurance Company Limited. IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is the largest multilateral source of financing for private sector projects in developing countries. IFC's other resident and regional missions in sub-Saharan Africa are located in Cameroon, CÙte d'Ivoire, Kenya, Nigeria, and Zimbabwe.
