49914 - SLGP Rawbank Agri SME

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

49914

Company Name

Rawbank DRC RSF

Date SPI Disclosed

Nov 11, 2024

Country

Congo, Democratic Republic of

Region

Africa

Projected Board Date

Dec 11, 2024

Environmental Category

FI-2 - Limited

Status

Pending Disbursement

Last Updated Date

Nov 19, 2025

Department

Regional Industry - FIG Africa

Industry

Financial Markets

Previous Events

Approved : Dec 13, 2024
Signed : Dec 19, 2024

Sector

Commercial Banking - SME Finance

Additional Project Attributes

Blended Finance

Project Description

The proposed project consists of an unfunded Risk Sharing Facility (RSF) of up to US$50 million to Rawbank (“RB” or the “Bank”) in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The proposed investment will be processed under the Small Loan Guarantee Program (“SLGP”), a programmatic approach to risk sharing which aims to enhance and strengthen the capacity of financial institutions for risk taking and financing of SMEs in eligible countries and is supported by the European Commission and the International Development Association (IDA19) Private Sector Window Blended Finance Facility. IFC will guarantee 50% of the Bank’s credit risk on a US$100 million portfolio of eligible Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) credit facilities including a US$10 million portfolio of eligible Agri SME loans. The SLGP RSF aims to support the Bank’s financing program to SMEs including agri-based SMEs in DRC.

Additionally, the Project is expected to be supported by the Global SME Finance Facility (“GSMEF”), subject to achieving agreed targets, in the form of a performance-based incentive (“PBI”) of up to US$0.6 million to incentivize the Bank’s lending to Women-owned SMEs (“WSMEs”).

Associated Advisory Engagement

Rawbank signed an Advisory Services (“AS”) engagement with IFC in June 2024 on climate finance portfolio review. The Bank has also signed two other advisory engagements in September 2024: (i) Agri-finance and (ii) Women owned MSMEs finance.

Sponsor / Cost / Location

Product Line	IFC Investment (million USD)
Risk Management
Guarantee	50.0
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
Guarantee	MAS JV Projects

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

Development Impact

The most significant expected project-level outcome for the project is improved access to finance for MSMEs and enhanced food security for consumers in DRC. By providing the bank with risk sharing instruments, the Project is expected to increase access to finance for SMEs including Agri SMEs and WSMEs. The Project is also expected to increase competitiveness among domestic banks via replication effects, as more of them improve and scale up their product offerings targeted to SMEs including agri SMEs and smallholder farmers. The proposed RSF Project in the DRC was made possible by the prior upstream project focused on obtaining recognition for capital relief from the central bank of the DRC (BCC). On February 27, 2024, the BCC officially granted 100 percent capital relief to guarantees from AAA-rated DFIs. This recognition would allow IFC and other AAA-rated DFIs to increase access to finance for MSMEs in DRC.

Financing Structure: IFC will provide Rawbank with 50% guarantee to help the bank de-risk and scale up its lending to SMEs, including in the agriculture sector in the context of macroeconomic challenges, high interest rates and rising inflation. SMEs in the DRC face significant challenges, including limited access to finance, lack of eligible collateral and weak reporting system. The RSF facility aims to address these issues by enabling Rawbank to take more risks and extend more credit to underserved sectors, thereby supporting the growth and sustainability of SMEs in the DRC. Following a diagnostic in 2023, IFC is in discussions with Rawbank around an Advisory engagement to support the bank to better understand key agri value chains, build an Agri team, train staffs, design dedicated Agri products, and build a pipeline of viable Agri SMEs and corporate partners. This will support the Bank’s ability to increase lending across key Agri value chains in DRC. In parallel, IFC Advisory will help Rawbank revamp its Lady’s First program by helping the bank to develop a strong value proposition and enable it to serve more women-owned SMEs.

Indicator	Metrics	Calendar Year 2022	Calendar Year 2023	Calendar Year 2024
Number of Outstanding Loans, SMEs	loans	Not Available	Not Available	Not Available
SME share of total loan portfolio	%	Not Available	Not Available	Not Available
Value of Outstanding Loans, SMEs	USDMill	Not Available	Not Available	Not Available
Women-owned SME as a share of SME loan portfolio	%	Not Available	Not Available	Not Available
Number of Outstanding Loans, WomenOwned Smes	loans	Not Available	Not Available	Not Available
Value of Outstanding Loans, WomenOwned Smes	USDMill	Not Available	Not Available	Not Available

E&S Category Rationale / Risks and Mitigation

The project consists of an RSF, under the SLGP to guarantee a portfolio of SMEs with a carveout for Agri SMEs. The Bank’s current SME portfolio includes exposures to sectors such as commerce, agriculture, and construction and transportation. As such, the portfolio supported under the RSFs is expected to comprise business activities with limited adverse environmental and social risks or impacts that are few in number, generally site-specific, largely reversible and readily addressable through mitigation measures. As part of the project, the Bank will be required to screen eligible SMEs against the IFC Exclusion List and national E&S laws and regulations in DRC. The project will not support coal related activities, mining activities and Higher Risk Transactions that may include: a) involuntary resettlement, b) risk of adverse impacts on Indigenous Peoples, c) significant risks to or impacts on environment, community health and safety, biodiversity, cultural heritage, or d) significant Occupational Health and Safety risks.
The main E&S risks and impacts of this project relate to the ability of the Bank to identify and manage the potential E&S risks and impacts associated with the lending activities to SMEs, as well as the bank’s labor practices. The E&S risks and impacts associated with SME activities are typically low to medium environmental and social risks such as waste management, pollution prevention, labor and working conditions and occupational health and safety, etc.

Rawbank has an E&S management system (ESMS) for assessing E&S risks and impacts associated with its SME lending activities, and a designated E&S officer. The ESMS details the internal process steps for E&S risk management, including categorization, E&S due diligence, inclusion of E&S conditions into loan agreements, and monitoring. As part of this project, Rawbank will be required to further enhance its ESMS to: (i) screen high risk transactions including agriculture commodities, (ii) develop an E&S internal reporting, (iii) develop procedures for E&S monitoring and reporting of sub-clients and (iv) enhance the external grievance mechanism. The Bank will also be required to enhance the E&S capacity by training staffs and hiring an independent consultant to review their E&S Management System and assist in the training and implementation of the policies and procedures. The Bank has also a dedicated HR team and established HR policies and manuals generally in line with IFC's labor standards under PS2: Labor and Working Conditions. The Bank is required to further enhance the HR procedures with additional provisions including antiharassment provisions, antidiscrimination provisions and a formal internal grievance mechanism.

S.no	Title	Anticipated Completion Date
1	Staff E&S training	11/29/2024
2	Implement a screening procedure for assessing the E&S risks	12/13/2024
3	Develop the ESMS and share implementation reports of the ESMS	03/15/2025
4	Enhance HR Manuals and procedures	12/13/2024

Contacts

For Inquiries About the Project, Contact

Rawbank
Laurence Feza
Head of DFI
+243996016300
laurence.feza@rawbank.cd
12/66 crossing of avenues Katanga and Colonel Lukusa, Kinshasa, DRC
rawbank.com

For Inquiries and Comments About IFC, Contact

General IFC Inquiries
IFC Communications
2121 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington DC 20433
Telephone: 202-473-3800
Fax: 202-974-4384

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.

Projects

Summary of Investment Information

Project Description

Associated Advisory Engagement

Sponsor / Cost / Location

Project Sponsor and Major Shareholders of Project Company

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

Blended Finance

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

Development Results

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