71.3% equity interest of EBN is held by ETI. The remaining 28.7% is widely held by general public (more than 68,700 shareholders with the largest holding less than 0.2%).

ETI is a regional financial services group head-quartered in Lome (Republic of Togo), currently serving wholesale and retail customers in 19 West and Central African countries. The Group was created by visionary leaders from both public and private sectors not only as a vehicle for promoting regional integration, but also as an instrument for fostering African private sector development. As of June 30, 2007, the Group had total assets and equity of over $4.2 billion and $532 million, respectively, and employed about 6,000 persons across over 400 branches and kiosks.

ETI is one of the leading financial services institutions in Sub-Saharan Africa which whom IFC is developing a long-term partnership aimed at strengthening the financial sector in the region by deepening and improving the quality of financial services provided.

The proposed IFC investment is a $25 million A loan for IFC’s own account.

125.0 million (USD)

Product Line	IFC Investment (million USD)
Risk Management
Guarantee
Loan	125.0
Equity	0.0

* These investment figures are indicative

With its head office in Lagos, EBN operated nationwide in Nigeria through 98 branches with a staff force of 2,109 as of June 30, 2007.

The project is expected to have several key development impacts:

- strengthening the banking sector in Nigeria;
- increasing credit access to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) and housing sub-sectors; and
- ultimately creating employment opportunities for more people in the Sub-Saharan region.

IFC’s expected development contribution in the project includes:

- providing long-term funding to support EBN’s strategy and portfolio growth, especially in the MSME sector; and
- providing tailored advisory services and expertise, especially in those areas that are critical to achieving EBN’s and ETI’s strategic vision: corporate governance, MSME finance, retail finance, housing finance, and risk management.

This project has been classified as a Category FI project according to IFC’s Environmental and Social Review Procedure. During appraisal, IFC analyzed the FI portfolio and the activities proposed to be supported with IFC financing for types of transactions, size, tenor and industry sectors and determined the Applicable Performance Requirements based on an analysis of the potential Social and Environmental risks associated with the FI portfolio and considering IFC’s investment.

The Applicable Performance Requirements are:

- The IFC FI Exclusion List;
- The applicable National Social and Environmental Laws and regulations; and
- The IFC Performance Standards.

IFC also reviewed EBN’s existing Social & Environmental Management System (SEMS) and its capacity to implement the same. Based on the review and the Applicable Performance Requirements, the project will be required to:

- Upgrade its existing SEMS to meet the above requirements, prior to disbursement to the satisfaction of IFC;
- Identify responsible, qualified persons to manage and implement the SEMS;
- Commit to implement the SEMS, to ensure that its investments/activities supported by IFC financing are in compliance with the Applicable Performance Requirements; and
- Submit a periodic report to IFC as per a format to be provided by IFC.