The financial sponsor of the project is AccessHolding, which plans to take a 52% stake in AccessBank Liberia. Other planned shareholders in AccessBank Liberia include IFC (18%), EIB (15%) and AfDB (15%).

AccessHolding’s shareholders include LFS, the European Investment Bank (EIB), Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW), Omidyar-Tufts Microfinance Fund (OTMF), International Finance Corporation (IFC) and MicroAssets GbR (MA).

AccessBank Liberia will finance approximately $40 million in assets within the first five years. IFC plans to provide funding in the amount of $4.5 million towards the project. The proposed IFC funding consists of a senior loan of up to $2 million, an equity investment of up to $1.2 million and technical assistance funding of up to $1.3 million.

3.10 million (USD)

Product Line	IFC Investment (million USD)
Risk Management
Guarantee
Loan	2.0
Equity	1.10

* These investment figures are indicative

AccessBank Liberia will provide financial services to urban and semi urban micro, small and medium enterprises in the capital of Monrovia and other main urban centers of Liberia.

The project will have a high development impact considering that microfinance has been shown to play a major positive role in reducing poverty and unemployment in developing countries. The initiative will strengthen the provision of microfinance services in Liberia, where access to finance is limited for low income populations. By creating a new institution able to sustain microfinance on commercial terms and following best practices, the project has the potential to generate a substantial increase in the long term availability of financial services for the poor. The project will also show local banks that sound microfinance can be sustainable and generate attractive returns. As a consequence, it is expected that the interest of local banks in the micro enterprise and SME sector will be strengthened.

IFC’s participation in the project not only brings extensive microfinance expertise, but also the unique combination of investment as well as technical assistance funds. These contributions will support the newly created institution’s ability to jump-start and effectively scale up operations and build local management capacity.

This project involves IFC’s support for micro and small business lending and has been classified as a Category FI project according to IFC’s Environmental and Social Review Procedure. ABL is sponsored by AccessHolding, an IFC investee company (Project #24633). As part of IFC''s investment in the holding company, AccessHolding has already committed to establish a Social & Environmental Management System (SEMS) for each microfinance institution in which it invests, which includes screening against the IFC Microfinance Exclusion List.

In line with this prior commitment, ABL will:

- Develop a procedure relevant to its business process, prior to disbursement, that is satisfactory to IFC, and that ensures that all its investments are screened and processed to avoid supporting activities on the IFC Microfinance exclusion list;
- Identify qualified persons to manage and implement the procedure;
- Demonstrate commitment and resources to implementing the procedure;
- Submit a periodic report to IFC as per a format to be provided by IFC.