I&MR is a subsidiary of I&M Holdings Limited (I&MH), an East African regional banking group, headquartered in Nairobi. I&MR was incorporated in 1963 as the first commercial bank in Rwanda as Banque Commerciale du Rwanda (BCR), with 100% government ownership. In 2004 BCR was privatized and later renamed I&M Bank (Rwanda) Limited (I&MR); and Bank (Rwanda) Plc, currently. The current I&MR shareholders include I&M, through BCR Investment with 54.47%, AfricInvest with 24.76% and the balance held by public /individual shareholders and the employee share ownership plan. In 2017, the Bank completed a successful IPO in Rwanda, with the government divesting its remaining stake to the public. Today, I&MR is one of the largest bank in Rwanda, serving over 45,000 customers through 14 branches dispersed around the country.

The proposed investment consists of a one-year senior loan of up to US$10.0 million renewable for up to 12 months to I&MR under the WCS Envelope. The WCS Envelope is designed to provide funding to existing IFC client banks in emerging markets that will then extend new trade-related or working capital loans to companies whose cash flows have been disrupted by the global outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic. The loan will provide I&MR additional liquidity support for its operations amidst prevailing economic challenges.

In addition, IFC as implementing entity of the IDA Private Sector Window (PSW) Blended Finance Facility is expected to support working capital loans in PSW eligible countries under the WCS Facility with a first loss guarantee of up to US$215 million (blended concessional finance co-investment). Without thede-risking provided by IDA PSW, IFC will be limited in its ability to support Working Capital loans in IDA PSW countries given the increased demand for financing and the high risk in IDA PSW countries. This support is targeted in the context of responding and helping with the resilience measures around COVID-19 crisis.

The level of concessionality provided to the WCS Facility by the blended concessional finance co-investment is estimated to be approximately 3% of the total PSW eligible facility size, which will be up to US$860 million. This estimate is based on the difference between (i) a reference price (either a market price if available; the price calculated using IFC's pricing model, which comprises three main elements: risk, cost and profit; or a negotiated price) and (ii) the concessional price being charged by the blended concessional finance co-investment.

Further details and historical information on estimated subsidy levels in IFC's blended finance portfolio can be found at: www.ifc.org/blendedfinance. As is the case with all of IFC's blended concessional finance co-investments, this project has been assessed against the Enhanced Blended Concessional Finance Principles for DFI Private Sector Operations adopted by IFC and more than 20 other DFIs in 2017. Further information on these Enhanced Principles and IFC's blended finance approach and governance can also be found at: www.ifc.org/blendedfinance. To support this increase in trade volumes at this most critical time, IFC is starting this support through existing clients while remaining open to engaging with other eligible financial institutions providing working capital in emerging markets.

I&MR's headquarters is in Kigali, Rwanda. The Bank operates a network of 14 banks across the country.

The appraisal did not entail a corporate governance review, given the appraisal in 2018 confirmed strong governance and control mechanisms that would not pose a threat to the potential development impact of the project.