In Johannesburg:
Houtan Bassiri
Phone:  +27 11 731 3179
Email:  hbassiri@ifc.org

In Maputo:
Name: Paula Morais
Phone:  +258-21482369
Email:  pmorais@ifc.org  

Maputo, Mozambique, June 14, 2007 — IFC, the private sector arm of the World Bank Group, today announced it will provide a package of financial products and advisory services to Déjà Vu Chocolat & Cafés, a Mozambican confectionary company. The project aims to create jobs and reduce poverty in the country by supporting smaller businesses. It is the third under the Mozambique SME Initiative, a donor-funded program in partnership with the Government of Switzerland and Finland.

IFC will provide the local currency equivalent of $280,000 in risk capital financing and $80,000 worth of advisory services to the company. Déjà Vu Chocolat will use the assistance to automate its labor intensive operations so that it can increase production volumes and take advantage of growing local demand. The company’s 22 employees of which 19 are women will all be trained on the new automated systems.

“Small businesses account for a substantial portion of economic activity in Mozambique, and supporting them is a central part of IFC’s strategy to promote development,” said Thierry Tannoh, IFC’s Director for Sub-Saharan Africa. “The Mozambique SME Initiative demonstrates IFC’s emphasis on finding creative solutions that increase access to finance and advisory support for SMEs in Africa.”

Déjà Vu Chocolat is a family-owned company launched in 2002 to provide locally-made quality chocolate products to the domestic market at a lower price than imports.

Managed from IFC’s Maputo office, the Mozambique SME Initiative is a $12 million IFC pilot program supported by the Swiss and Finnish governments. It provides financing and advisory services to small and medium companies in Mozambique with the aim of creating a more viable private sector and attracting investors to the country’s small business sector. For more information on the program, please visit ifc.org/ifcext/africa.nsf/Content/Mozambique_SME_Initiative.

About IFC
IFC, the private sector arm of the World Bank Group, promotes open and competitive markets in developing countries.  IFC supports sustainable private sector companies and other partners in generating productive jobs and delivering basic services, so that people have opportunities to escape poverty and improve their lives. Through FY06, IFC Financial Products has committed more than $56 billion in funding for private sector investments and mobilized an additional $25 billion in syndications for 3,531 companies in 140 developing countries. IFC Advisory Services and donor partners have provided more than $1 billion in program support to build small enterprises, to accelerate private participation in infrastructure, to improve the business enabling environment, to increase access to finance, and to strengthen environmental and social sustainability. For more information, please visit www.ifc.org and www.ifc.org/africa.