34915 - BICEC Agri RSF

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Summary of Investment Information

Project Number

34915

Company Name

Banque Internationale du Cameroun pour lEpargne et le Credit

Date SPI Disclosed

Sep 9, 2014

Country

Cameroon

Region

Africa

Projected Board Date

Sep 25, 2014

Environmental Category

FI-2 - Limited

Status

Pending Disbursement

Last Updated Date

Nov 30, 2016

Department

Regional Industry - FIG ME & Africa

Industry

Financial Markets

Previous Events

Approved : Sep 25, 2014
Signed : Mar 24, 2015

Sector

Diversified Edible Agricultural Crops Production

Additional Project Attributes

Blended Finance

Project Description

The project, a joint World Bank/IFC initiative, aims to promote competitiveness of Producer Organizations in the value chains of cassava, maize and sorghum by providing them with financing (pre- and post-harvest) to increase and modernize their production and vertically integrate their business to agribusiness end customers.

The proposed project with Banque Internationale du Cameroun pour l’Épargne et le Crédit (“BICEC” or the “Bank”) is a Risk Sharing Facility of up to XOF5 billion to support lending to Producer Organizations in Cameroon. BICEC is the third largest bank in the country in terms of loans (16.7%) and third largest bank in terms of deposits (16.9%), with a network of 36 branches. The Bank has a universal bank business model servicing the retail, SME and corporate business segments.

Sponsor / Cost / Location

Product Line	IFC Investment (million USD)
Risk Management
Guarantee	7.35
Loan
Equity

Development Impact

The Project will:
(i) improve the livelihoods of indirect and direct beneficiaries including smallholder producers involved in the cassava, maize, sorghum and rice value chains;
(ii) create further employment at both producer organization and agro-industry levels thereby supporting one of the largest and poorest employment brackets in the country;
(iii) addresses issues of food security through the substitution of imports by locally-produced raw materials.
(iv) create jobs for women: The project is likely to reach at least 25% women given that for some of the value chains such as cassava and even maize, women are the majority of farmers. Increasing their economic power improves many livelihoods. They are more likely than men to contribute income to (1) poverty reduction; (2) improved nutrition; (3) school tuition

(i) WB/IFC convening power: The project is a demonstration of IFC/WB''s convening power to bring together multiple stakeholders from the public and private sector along the value chain to address a fundamental development issue in the important field of agriculture/agribusiness;
(ii) Catalytic Role: IFC is playing a critical role in attracting medium-term financing to a segment of the market that is currently severely underserved.
(iii) Environmental and Social Best Practices: IFC provides environmental and social best practices in a sector which is largely dominated by smallholders with limited access to guidance or training on E&S issues.

E&S Category Rationale / Risks and Mitigation

This project has been categorized as an FI-2 in accordance with IFC''s Environmental and Social Review Procedure. The proposed investment consists of a risk-sharing facility of up to US$ 10 million with BICEC, a subsidiary of Groupe Banques Populaires et Caisses d’Epargne. The project entails the sharing up to 50% of the risks on the portfolio of participating Agriculture Producing Organizations (PO). BICEC’s current Agribusiness portfolio entails exposures to crop production, agro-processing, plantation farming and agricultural services. The overall portfolio risks includes a limited number of business activities that have potential medium level adverse environmental or social risks or impacts that are few in number, generally site specific, possibly reversible, and readily addressed through mitigation measures. For this project, BICEC will be required to screen the eligible loans against the IFC Exclusion List, the Environmental and Social laws of Cameroon and screening against Child Labour issues and Biodiversity loss. In particular, BICEC will be required to assess harmful child labor/forced labor and biodiversity loss associated with the agri-commodities transactions. BICEC will be provided a sample questionnaire which addresses these agricommodities-related issues. In line with the asset-class approach, these requirements shall be applicable to all loans that meet the eligibility criteria defined for the risk sharing facility.

The key E&S risks and impacts derive from the capacity of BICEC to identify and manage the potential environmental and social risks associated with its lending activities to the Agribusiness sector, which typically have some medium level environmental risks (waste management, effluent treatment, air emissions, disposal of hazardous materials, etc.) and social risks primarily related to occupational, health and safety (lack of occupational training, use of personal protective equipment, lack of emergency training, etc). Other inherent E&S country risks include, risks related to impacts on biodiversity and child labor, prevalent in Cameroon’s agricultural sector, in particular cocoa. Additional E&S risks and impacts of the Project derive from the capacity and systems that are in place to manage these risks, and the Bank’s practices with regards to labor and working conditions. At present, BICEC does not have an Environmental and Social Management System (ESMS) outlining the procedures, responsibilities and tools for undertaking E&S risk management of its lending activities. As part of this investment, the bank will be required to implement an Environmental and Social Management System to ensure that all eligible loans to support the Agricultural Producing Organizations are in compliance with the applicable environmental and social requirements and to continue its commitment to applying the labor standards.

Contacts

For Inquiries About the Project, Contact

Pierre Mahe
Managing Director
Avenue du GénéralDe GaulleBP 1925 DoualaTél. : (237) 33 43 60 00Fax : (237) 33 43 12 26
E-mail: http://www.bicec.com/

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Local Access of Project Documentation

BICEC
Avenue du Général De GaulleBP 1925 Douala

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.

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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 Title & Description	Anticipated Completion Date
Nominate officers	10/15/2014
Establish SEMS	10/30/2014
Formalize procedures	12/30/2014
Develop guidelines	10/30/2014
Staff Training	10/30/2014

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