The MIFSSA will be undertaken in collaboration with and co-funded by Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW). Other financial institutions may participate on a project by project basis. The Facility involves the active participation of microfinance operators who will be the main sponsors of the Greenfield institutions being created.

Total project cost is estimated at $103 million over five years. Proposed IFC investment is $22.5 million, including: an estimated $7.0 million in technical assistance grant funding and an estimated $15.5 million in commercial financing (with up to $3.2 million in equity, $12.3 million in debt or guarantees)

11.60 million (USD)

Product Line	IFC Investment (million USD)
Risk Management
Guarantee	0.0
Loan	7.70
Equity	3.90

* These investment figures are indicative

Urban and rural areas in five countries in Sub-Saharan Africa: Senegal, Ghana, Rwanda, DRC and Sierra Leone

MIFSSA will have a high development impact as microfinance has been shown to have a major positive role in reducing poverty and unemployment in developing countries. The initiative will jump-start the provision of microfinance services in several African countries and have a major catalytic impact on the microfinance industries in those countries. By creating new institutions able to sustain microfinance on commercial terms, MIFSSA has the potential to generate a substantial increase in the long-term availability of financial services for the poor.

IFC is a core participant in MIFSSA and will add significant value to it. There are few private funders prepared to support start-up microfinance institutions and no other multilateral or bilateral organizations with the same level of experience and expertise in creating new microfinance institutions. IFC’s know-how in this area, gained from setting up more than 20 microfinance institutions in the past several years is quite exceptional and will significantly increase the likelihood of achieving MIFSSA’s objectives.

This is a Financial Intermediary (FI) Type 1 microfinance project according to IFC''s environmental and social review procedure. Each institution supported by MIFSSA would be required to designate a senior officer with overall responsibility for environmental and social issues, and identify an individual who will manage and/or conduct reviews. Each institution would also be required to establish an environmental and social management system (ESMS) to manage environmental and social risks and opportunities for relevant operations. The purpose of these responsible persons and the ESMS will be to ensure that projects and/or activities financed under relevant operations are consistent with applicable local environmental, occupational health and safety and social regulations and IFC''s Microfinance Exclusion List. IFC''s Sustainable Financial Markets Facility will contribute to the Technical Assistance Component of this project by providing microfinance-oriented training on environmental, health and safety risks and opportunities, to help microfinance borrowers build better businesses.
Location of environmental documents In locally affected community