Dakar, July 25, 2023—IFC today announced a new partnership with the Baobab Group, which will further support the provision of financial services to unserved and underserved entrepreneurs, especially micro and small enterprises and women-owned businesses in Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Madagascar, Mali, and Senegal.
Under this partnership, IFC has signed six loan agreements as part of a multi-currency facility in the aggregate equivalent amount of up to $47.5 million to the Baobab Group. Extended under the Base of the Pyramid platform, which aims to mitigate the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, the facility will support micro and small enterprises and women-owned businesses in accessing the financing needed to operate and grow their businesses.
"This new partnership with IFC will support our strategy to strengthen our leadership in larger markets such as Côte d'Ivoire and Senegal and to pursue growth in currently more fragile markets – like Burkina Faso, Mali and the Democratic Republic of the Congo,'' said Philip Sigwart, Baobab Group CEO.
This facility marks a new page in IFC's longstanding relationship with the Baobab Group, one of the first microfinance institutions to implement IFC's Microfinance Initiative in Africa in 2005. Since then, IFC, a founding shareholder of the Group, has provided debt and equity support as needed to its subsidiaries in Africa and China.
This new partnership aims to support the Baobab Group's efforts to scale up its finance operations in a number of Sub-Saharan African countries.
"This new investment will help IFC reach multiple financial inclusion operators across Africa in an efficient and innovative manner. It will also help expand access to finance for micro and small enterprises and women in the aftermath of the COVID-19 crisis and multiple climate shocks," said Aliou Maiga, IFC's Regional Industry Director for the Financial Institutions Group in Africa.
Micro and small enterprises are key drivers of private sector growth in sub-Saharan Africa. However, they continue to be impacted by rising inflation and supply chain disruptions, partly due to the remnants of the pandemic and Russia's invasion of Ukraine. A marked slowdown in growth for businesses threatens an inclusive and resilient recovery.
IFC's financing is supported by the International Development Association's Private Sector Window Blended Finance Facility and Local Currency Facility.
About IFC
IFC—a member of the World Bank—is the largest global development institution focused on the private sector in emerging markets. We work in more than 100 countries, using our capital, expertise, and influence to create markets and opportunities in developing countries. In fiscal year 2022, IFC committed a record $32.8 billion to private companies and financial institutions in developing countries, leveraging the power of the private sector to end extreme poverty and boost shared prosperity as economies grapple with the impacts of global compounding crises. For more information, visit www.ifc.org.
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About BAOBAB
Baobab is a financial services group with operations in seven countries on the African continent and one province of China. Via its subsidiaries, Baobab provides financial services to half a million micro-entrepreneurs and small businesses, fulfilling its mission of broadening access to finance among those underserved by traditional banks. Our global range of products includes micro-loans, savings solutions, transaction, and daily banking services as well as innovative banking products like mobile payments, digital nano loans and pay-go solar products. Our 4,000 team members work together to make financial services more accessible, inclusive, and transparent. For more information, visit our website: www.baobab.com/fr/groupe-baobab/
About the IDA Private Sector Window
The International Development Association's (IDA) Private Sector Window (PSW) was launched in 2017 to catalyze private sector investment in the poorest and most fragile countries. Recognizing the key role of the private sector in achieving IDA's objectives and the World Bank's twin goals, the window provides a source of co-investment funding and guarantees to de-risk private investments supported by IFC and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA). The IDA PSW is an option when there is no commercial solution, and the World Bank Group's other tools and approaches are insufficient. For more information, visit: http://ida.worldbank.org/psw
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