32192 - Access RSF

Who We Are
Who We Are

IFC is the largest global development institution focused on the private sector in developing countries. By encouraging growth, IFC advances economic development, creates jobs and improves the lives of people.
More About Us
About IFC

Our Leadership

Development Partners
Accountability

Learn more about accountability
Annual Report

Download the Report
What We Do
What We Do

IFC advances economic development and improves the lives of people by encouraging the growth of the private sector in developing countries. We achieve this by investing in impactful projects, mobilizing other investors, and sharing expertise.
What We Do Overview
SOLUTIONS

Our products and services
OUR PRIORITIES

Climate Business

Fragile & Conflict Afflicted Situations

Gender

Mobilizing Private Capital

Sustainability
SECTORS & EXPERTISE

Agribusiness & Forestry

Creative Industries

Education

Financial Institutions

Funds

Health

Infrastructure

Manufacturing

Public-Private Partnerships

Tourism, Retail & Property

Trade & Supply Chain Finance

Venture Capital

Working Upstream
Where We Work
Where We Work

As the largest global development institution focused on the private sector, IFC operates in more than 100 countries around the globe. We apply lessons learned in one region to solve problems in another.
Overview
By Region

Africa

East Asia and Pacific

Europe

Latin America and the Caribbean

Middle East and Central Asia

South Asia
Our Impact
Our Impact

Our impact improves lives. IFC brings a clear set of advantages to the world’s most challenging markets. Including a history of innovation, a global mandate, and a determination to achieve measurable development impact.
Our Impact Overview
PRINCIPLES & MEASUREMENT

Impact Investing at IFC

Measuring and Monitoring (AIMM)

Evaluation

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Owned by 186 member countries and consistently rated AAA/Aaa. IFC aims to achieve our mission of promoting development by providing debt and equity to the private sector, through a range of benchmark and bespoke products.

For Partners

For Investors

Get in Touch

Summary of Investment Information

Project Number

32192

Company Name

RSF Access Bank

Date SPI Disclosed

Sep 14, 2012

Country

Nigeria

Region

Africa

Projected Board Date

Oct 18, 2012

Environmental Category

FI-2 - Limited

Status

Active

Last Updated Date

Jan 18, 2026

Department

Regional Industry - FIG Africa

Industry

Financial Markets

Previous Events

Approved : Oct 18, 2012
Signed : Dec 31, 2012

Sector

Commercial Banking - SME Finance

Additional Project Attributes

Blended Finance

Project Description

The proposed project will provide access to financial services to small and medium-size companies in Nigeria through an investment package aimed at supporting the scale-up of the SME banking operations of Access Bank Plc (“Access Bank” or the “Bank”) by providing a risk sharing facility, on a portfolio of SME distributor loans, for primarily women-owned businesses.

Sponsor / Cost / Location

Product Line	IFC Investment (million USD)
Risk Management
Guarantee	13.35
Loan
Equity

IFC's loan to the financial institution described in this SII is targeted for on-lending to the following sector(s):

Product Type	Use of Proceeds
Guarantee	Loans to SME Borrowers

IFC's Definitions of Targeted Sectors can be found here.

Development Impact

The project is expected to make a contribution to the financial sector and economic development in Nigeria. The expected development impact is summarized below:
1) Increase Access to Finance for underserved SMEs
The project will increase Access to Finance for SMEs, including women-owned businesses that are currently underserved in Nigeria.
2) Capacity Building of SMEs
The RSF project will assist the distributors to professionalize their businesses by providing relevant financial and non-financial training that will cover areas such as (a) financial management, (b) business planning, (c) inventory management as well as (d) soft skills / people management skills.
3) Demonstration Effect
The Bank''s increased lending to underserved segments has the capacity to contribute to market transformation through continued lending to the target segments beyond the life of the project and demonstrate to the market that these segments can be banked profitably in Nigeria.
4) Job Creation
The project will support job creation as they will provide financing to small and medium enterprises, which play a key role in economic development and employment
5) Replication Potential
The RSF project has significant replication potential as the large retailing company will use this as one of its pilot projects for distributor financing, with the potential to expand the distributor partnership with banks to other countries in Sub-Saharan Africa.

(i) Provide long-term funding for on-lending to key SME sub-segments
IFC will support the Bank''s increase in long-term lending to key sub-segments of the SME market, including women-owned firms.
(ii) Mobilization of Funding
IFC will mobilize Department for International Development (DFID) funding to support the project (Advisory Services and RSF), which will support the Bank''s expansion into high impact SME subsectors.
(iii) Leverage Global Expertise
IFC will add value through global knowledge of SME finance and best practice sharing, particularly as the Bank undertakes the strategic expansion of its SME portfolio.
(iv) Support Sustainability
IFC will play a key role in advising the Bank as its strives to improve its corporate governance and environment and social standards to global best practice levels, and as such support long-term sustainability.

E&S Category Rationale / Risks and Mitigation

This project has been classified as FI-2 according to IFC’s Environmental and Social Review Procedure. The project is a risk sharing facility for SME lending to the distributors of a beverage manufacturing company in Nigeria. The transportation of the beverages will be handled by the manufacturer; the project is considered to have limited adverse E&S risks and impacts which are largely reversible and can be managed through mitigation measures. The Applicable Performance Requirements for this project are the IFC Exclusion List and the applicable National Laws in Nigeria.

The main E&S risks and impacts relate to the Bank’s ability to identify and manage the risks associated with its lending activities. Access Bank is an existing client. The Bank has an E&S Officer and an ESMS in place. The implementation of the ESMS is however considered inadequate and needs improvement. The Bank’s ESMS also needs to be revised to reflect all the clauses in IFC’s Exclusion List. The Bank’s compliance with PS2 on labor and working conditions was also reviewed during appraisal and the Bank was found to be compliant except with regards to not having a sexual harassment policy and a formal grievance mechanism.

Contacts

For Inquiries and Comments About IFC, Contact

General IFC Inquiries
IFC Corporate Relations
2121 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington DC 20433
Telephone: 202-473-3800
Fax: 202-974-4384
E Mail: Webmaster

IFC supports its clients in addressing environmental and social issues arising from their business activities by requiring its real sector clients to set up and administer appropriate grievance mechanisms and/or procedures to address complaints from Affected Communities in relation to environmental and social issues arising from IFC's clients' business activities. Since 2012, IFC's Financial Intermediary clients applying the Performance Standards are required to develop External Communications Mechanisms to receive and review inquiries or complaints from any interested party regarding the E&S risks and impacts of their operations.

For IFC projects that are active or under consideration, individual(s), or their authorized representative(s), who allege they have been or will be adversely affected by E&S risks or impacts arising from IFC's clients' business activities, may submit a complaint to IFC directly for consideration. When receiving an E&S complaint, IFC engages with complainants and works with its clients to find solutions to E&S concerns as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Complaints can be submitted to IFC online at www.ifc.org/escomplaints or by email to EScomplaints@ifc.org.

IFC complaint response is separate from and complementary to IFC’s clients’ project level grievance mechanisms and IFC’s Independent Accountability Mechanism (CAO). Lodging a complaint directly with IFC does not, at any time, restrict access to CAO.

Affected communities have unrestricted access to the Compliance Advisor Ombudsman (CAO), the independent accountability mechanism for IFC and MIGA. CAO facilitates the resolution of complaints related to IFC and MIGA projects and sub-projects, undertakes reviews of IFC’s and MIGA’s environmental and social compliance, fosters public accountability for their commitments, and enhances the environmental and social performance of IFC and MIGA.

Independent of IFC and MIGA management and reporting directly to the IFC and MIGA Boards of Executive Directors, CAO helps resolve issues raised about the environmental and social impacts of projects through a neutral, collaborative, problem-solving approach via its Dispute Resolution function. It also reviews IFC’s and MIGA’s compliance with environmental and social policies, assesses related harm, and recommends remedial actions through its Compliance function. Additionally, CAO provides advice to IFC, MIGA, and their Boards to enhance environmental and social sustainability performance and minimize the risk of harm.

Complaints may relate to environmental and social harm regarding any aspect of the planning, implementation, or impact of a project or sub-project, and can be made by any individual, group, community, entity, or other party affected or likely to be affected by the environmental or social impacts of an IFC- or MIGA-financed business activity.

Complaints can be submitted by any of the following methods:

Online form: available at https://www.cao-ombudsman.org/
Mail/Hand Delivery to: 2121 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20433, USA
Voice mail: +1 202 458 1973
Email: cao@worldbankgroup.org
SMS, WhatsApp, Telegram, and Signal: +1 202 650 2627

CAO receives and addresses complaints in accordance with the CAO Policy, which can be accessed at: https://www.cao-ombudsman.org/policies-guidelines.

This Summary of Investment Information (SII) is prepared by IFC to disclose a factual summary of the main elements of the potential investment. It also includes findings and recommendations related to environmental and social considerations regarding this potential investment. The purpose of the SII is to enhance the transparency of IFC’s activities. For any project documentation or data included or attached herein, whether prepared by the project sponsor or otherwise, authorization has been given for public release by the project sponsor. IFC considers that this SII is of adequate quality for release to the public, but has not necessarily independently verified all of the project information therein. It is distributed in advance of IFC Board of Directors’ consideration and may be periodically updated thereafter. Board dates are estimates only and this document should not be construed as presuming the outcome of the Board Directors’ decision. The following SII is disclosed in accordance with IFC's Access to Information Policy (AIP) that went into effect on January 1, 2012.

The map is for illustrative purposes and does not imply the expression of any opinion on the part of the World Bank, concerning the legal status of any country or territory or concerning the delimitation of frontiers or boundaries. Country borders or names do not necessarily reflect the World Bank Group's official position. In some cases, available project location information is limited to the country of the project's activities. Locations are approximate.

Task Description	Anticipated Completion Date
Revision of ESMS	On or prior to commitment
Evidence of ESMS Implementation	On or prior to disbursement
ESMS Implementation Report for Risk Sharing Facility	Six months after disbursement
PS2 Compliance – Sexual Harassment Policy and Grievance Mechanism	On or prior to commitment

Projects

Summary of Investment Information

Project Description

Sponsor / Cost / Location

Development Impact

E&S Category Rationale / Risks and Mitigation

Similar Projects

Contacts

Projects

Summary of Investment Information

Project Description

Sponsor / Cost / Location

Project Sponsor and Major Shareholders of Project Company

Total Project Cost and Amount and Nature of IFC's Investment

IFC's Investment as Approved by the Board

FIG Use of Proceeds/Beneficiaries

Location of Project and Description of Site

Development Impact

Anticipated Impact Measurement & Monitoring (AIMM) Assessment

IFC's Role and Additionality

E&S Category Rationale / Risks and Mitigation

Environmental & Social Categorization Rationale / Key Risks & Potential Impacts

Environmental & Social Management System (ESMS)

Mitigation Measures / Environmental & Social Action Plan (ESAP)

Press-Release

Related Environmental Document

Similar Projects

Contacts

Information on E&S Complaints and Grievance Mechanisms

Disclaimer