Washington, D.C./Accra, July 16, 2009,
—IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, will provide a $30 million guarantee facility to Stanbic Bank Ghana Limited (“Stanbic Ghana”) to help it increase financing to companies that purchase cocoa from small farmers in Ghana.
Stanbic Ghana is the country’s fastest-growing bank. Among other clients, it finances Licensed Buying Companies that procure cocoa from farmers on behalf of the Ghana Cocoa Board. The increased financing will enable these companies to improve their financial management, reduce the overall cost of financing the procurement of cocoa beans, and result in an increased volume of cocoa purchased from farmers.
“IFC’s guarantee facility will help Stanbic Ghana meet the growing funding needs of the Bank’s clients in the cocoa subsector and enable them to adequately prepare for the coming crop season,” said Alhassan Andani, Stanbic Ghana’s Managing Director. “This facility is a vote of confidence in Stanbic Ghana’s cocoa sector lending program.”
“Supporting the cocoa sector in Ghana and other West African countries is a priority for IFC. The sector has the potential to create significant rural employment and generate income,” said Oscar Chemerinski, IFC Director for Global Agribusiness Department.
About IFC
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, creates opportunity for people to escape poverty and improve their lives. We foster sustainable economic growth in developing countries by supporting private sector development, mobilizing private capital, and providing advisory and risk mitigation services to businesses and governments. Our new investments totaled $16.2 billion in fiscal 2008, a 34 percent increase over the previous year. For more information, visit
www.ifc.org
.
About Stanbic Ghana Limited
Stanbic Bank Ghana Limited is a member of the Standard Bank Group, a large banking group rooted in Africa and reaching out to all corners of the world. The bank offers a wide range of financial products and services in personal, business, corporate, and investment banking. Stanbic Ghana proactively provides solutions for its clients through creative people and effective technology and comes up with a solution for every banking need. In Ghana, the bank operates 21 branches located in Accra and other regional capitals.
