IFC Financial Products

IFC offers a wide variety of financial products to private sector projects in developing countries. IFC offers:

• Loans for IFC's own account: A-loans
• Equity Finance
• Quasi-Equity Finance: C-loans
• Syndicated Loans: B-loans
• Risk Management Products
• Intermediary Finance

IFC can provide a mix of financing that is tailored to meet the needs of each project. However, the bulk of the funding, as well as leadership and management responsibility, lies with private sector owners.

IFC operates on a commercial basis. It invests exclusively in for-profit projects and charges market rates for its products and services.

There is no standard application form for IFC financing. A company or entrepreneur, foreign or domestic, seeking to establish a new venture or expand an existing enterprise can approach IFC directly. This is best done by reading How to Apply for IFC Financing and submitting an Investment Proposal to the appropriate IFC department or the IFC field office that is closest to the location of the proposed project. After these initial contacts and a preliminary review, IFC will request a detailed feasibility study or business plan to determine whether or not to appraise the project.

As a rule, the enterprises IFC finances must be majority private sector owned and controlled. Exceptions can be made for state-owned enterprises which are in the process of being privatized. Although IFC does not take any government guarantees for its financing, IFC's work often requires close cooperation with government agencies in developing countries.