Johannesburg, South Africa, November 11, 2025 – To help create jobs and support the growth of smaller businesses in South Africa, IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, today announced a local currency loan to Lula Lend (Lula), a leading digital lender in the country.
IFC’s 170 million rand loan ($10 million equivalent) will help unlock working capital for thousands of micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in South Africa, with at least 80 percent of the funding going to micro and small businesses.
MSMEs are the engine of South Africa’s economy, generating around 34 percent of GDP and 60 percent of jobs, but only about five percent of these formalized businesses have access to credit, according to the MSME Finance Gap report.
“At Lula our mission is to empower every SME in South Africa to succeed, because when small businesses thrive, our entire economy and society move forward,” said Trevor Gosling, CEO, Lula. “This partnership with IFC will enable us to extend more working capital to more SMEs, fueling their growth and long-term success. We’re excited to work alongside IFC to drive meaningful impact for SMEs.”
IFC’s Vice President for Africa, Ethiopis Tafara, said, “Our partnership with Lula leverages its innovative digital model to expand access to finance for South Africa’s small businesses—empowering entrepreneurs to create jobs and drive a more resilient, inclusive economy.”
Lula provides uncollateralized, fully digital loans to businesses that traditional banks often overlook due to their lack of formal credit history or collateral. About 90 percent of Lula’s clients are first-time business borrowers.
IFC and Lula’s partnership, which dates to 2019, reflects IFC’s broader mission to drive innovative, inclusive growth, while creating jobs by strengthening MSME-led development, and decreasing poverty.
Since 2018, IFC has invested and mobilized about $1.4 billion (nearly 25 billion rand) to support MSMEs through local financial institutions in South Africa. IFC has invested more than $5.2 billion in South Africa in the past five years, making it IFC’s largest country exposure in Africa and its fifth largest globally.
About IFC
IFC — a member of the World Bank Group — 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 2025, IFC committed a record $71.7 billion to private companies and financial institutions in developing countries, leveraging private sector solutions and mobilizing private capital to create a world free of poverty on a livable planet. For more information, visit www.ifc.org.
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About Lula
Lula is a South Africa-based fintech company headquartered in Cape Town, specializing in providing digital business funding and banking solutions to MSMEs. Founded in 2014, Lula operates as a privately held, venture capital-backed entity with a strong focus on financial inclusion and MSME empowerment. The Company leverages proprietary credit-scoring algorithms and alternative data sources to deliver fast, unsecured working capital loans of up to ZAR5 million (US$280,000), often within 24 hours.
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