Investing in Sub-Saharan Africa

IFC’s Commitment to Sub-Saharan Africa

IFC’s investments in Sub-Saharan Africa have never been stronger, helping to bring tangible benefits to millions of people across the region. In FY08, IFC committed approximately $1.4 billion in new investments in Sub-Saharan Africa, roughly the same amount as the previous year.
Amid changing economic times, IFC has been actively looking to increase its activities in sectors and countries where we have been less active.

IFC’s Regional Strategy

IFC puts clients’ needs first in striving for strong growth and development impact, and we work closely with development partners such as the World Bank to achieve our goals. Our strategy in Sub-Saharan Africa aims to:

• Improve the business environment
• Increase support to small and medium enterprises
• Proactively develop additional projects to support investments

IFC’s strategy also places special emphasis on several key sectors and initiatives. IFC aims to become more active in the region's poorest countries and those emerging from conflict, such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Liberia, and Sierra Leone.

Improving the region’s poor infrastructure, which has hampered economic development and made it difficult for millions of people to access basic services such as clean water or safe sanitation, is also a priority.

And we are scaling up support to agribusiness operations to address the sharp rise in food prices, which threatens to push millions of people in low income countries deeper into poverty

For more information contact:
Houtan Bassiri
Communications Officer
Johannesburg, South Africa
Tel: +27-11-731-3179
Email: hbassiri@ifc.org