BBGCI was established in 2004 with operations starting in 2006. It initially focused on the Corporate and SME segments, then expanded in 2011 to the Retail, Professionals and micro-enteprise segments. The Bank’s shareholders include Bridge Group West Africa (“BGWA”) (77.2%), a financial holding company, Caisse Nationale de Prévoyance Sociale (CNPS) (20%), the social security trust of Côte d'Ivoire and the Senegalese businessman Mr. Oumar Sow (2.8%).                                                  

The investment consists of an unfunded RSF on a portfolio of SME loans totalling up to XOF49.2 billion (c. US$79.5 million equivalent). IFC’s maximum exposure is up to XOF24.6 billion (c. US$39.7 million equivalent) committed in two tranches. 

Blended Finance

The SLGP and SLGP EC/PSW benefit from pooled first loss guarantees (PFLGs) provided by the IDA IFC-MIGA Private Sector Window’s Blended Finance Facility (“PSW-BFF”) and the European Commission (EC) via European Fund for Sustainable Development (the EFSD) and (“SLGP EC/PSW”), which enable IFC to support local financial institutions’ lending to SMEs, and at affordable rates. While SLGP EC/PSW benefits from the PFLG provided by both the EC and IDA, sub-projects in non-IDA PSW eligible countries (i.e., EC-only countries) will be supported only by a PFLG provided by the EC, including the second tranche of this Project, as Côte d'Ivoire lost the PSW eligibility at the time of processing.

IDA PSW-BFF was created by the Word Bank Group to catalyze private sector investment in IDA countries, with a focus on fragile and conflict-affected states. The EFSD was launched by EC in 2016 and designed to leverage additional financing by allowing risk-sharing with private investors, international financial institutions, and development banks. The EFSD and IDA PSW-BFF’s support enabled IFC to rapidly roll out a program of risk-sharing facilities to reach the SME segment of the market including women SMEs. 

The level of concessionality (i.e., “subsidy) is estimated to be up to 7% of the total portfolio of US$1.2 billion and 9.7% of the total portfolio of €486 million for SLGP and SLGP EC/PSW respectively. The estimates are 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 under the program.

The Project is also supported by the We-Fi in the form of a performance-based incentive (PBI) of up to 0.56% of the total project cost of c. US$80 million equivalent to incentivize on-lending to women-owned/women-led SMEs.  The estimated subsidy provided by We-Fi assumes that the Project will fully reach the agreed impact and shall only be paid out upon achievement of the pre-defined targets. We-Fi is a collaborative partnership among 14 governments, six multilateral development banks (MDBs), and other public and private sector stakeholders, hosted by the World Bank Group. It seeks to address financial and non-financial constraints faced by women-owned small and medium enterprises around the world.

As is the case with all IFC’s blended concessional finance co-investments, this project has been assessed against the Enhanced Blended Concessional Finance Principles for Development Finance Institution (“DFI”) Private Sector Operations adopted by IFC and more than 20 other DFIs in 2017.  Further information on these Enhanced Principles, IFC's blended finance approach and governance, and historical information on estimated subsidy levels in IFC's blended finance portfolio can be found at: www.ifc.org/blendedfinance. SLGP, SLGP EC/PSW, and We-Fi can be accessed by other financial institutions in eligible countries.

 Bridge Bank Group Côte d’Ivoire operates in both Côte d’Ivoire and Senegal, with a branch network consisting of 15 branches in Côte d’Ivoire and 2 branches in Senegal. Under the Project, the first tranche will provide coverage for 50% of principal losses on a portfolio of SME loans originated by the Bank in both Côte d’Ivoire and Senegal. The second tranche, however, will cover 50% of principal losses on a portfolio of SME loans originated exclusively in Côte d’Ivoire.

 IFC does not anticipate any governance risk linked to this Project.