Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (“ETI”), a leading regional private financial services group in West and Central Africa owns more than 75% of the Bank’s share capital. Incorporated in 1985 in Togo, today ETI is present in 30 African countries predominantly in West and Central Africa. The remaining shares are held by the government of Central African Republic and local investors.

The proposed IFC investment is a XAF 1.5 billion A loan for IFC own account.

3.08 million (USD)

Product Line	IFC Investment (million USD)
Risk Management
Guarantee
Loan	3.08
Equity

* These investment figures are indicative

The Bank is headquartered in Bangui; it operates through 11 branches, mostly located in Bangui and other parts of Central African Republic.

IFC’s investment in Ecobank is expected to deliver a strong development impact mainly by leveraging on the scope and reach of the Bank to increase access to finance for the underserved SME segment, and thus speeding up economic growth.

IFC will provide medium term lending in local currency, a funding instrument that is hardly available to the banking sector in Central African Republic. IFC’s involvement in the project will also demonstrate its commitment to the fragile and conflict-affected countries in Africa by helping them (i) rebuild their private sectors (ii) increase stability (iii) reduce poverty.

The key risk involved in this project is inadequate capacity by the Bank to undertake S&E due diligence in line with IFC’s policy requirements. The client will be required to ensure compliance of the activities financed with the IFC Exclusion List, the host country laws and regulations and if needed the IFC Performance Standards, and demonstrate commitment to applying the labor standards established by the IFC Performance Standard 2: Labor and Working Conditions. The S&E performance of ETI, of which EBC is a subsidiary, was recently rated as 3, and the client requested to enhance its S&E due diligence process for SME lending. CES will as part of the appraisal assess the client’s capacity and commitment to implement the SEMS and carry out a due diligence on the Bank’s HR policies and practices to determine compliance with the PS2 requirements, and if needed to provide recommendations to address any gaps. The adoption of a revised SEMS by EBC satisfactory to IFC will be a condition of disbursement for this project.