50s & 60s - UP AND RUNNING
Decade 1
1950s and 1960s — Up and Running
Small at first, IFC launched new tools to increase the private sector's growth and its contribution to development.
1956
IFC opens under Robert L. Garner’s leadership with $100 million in capital, 12 staff and an ambitious goal: "Encouraging the growth of productive private enterprise" in three broad ways—investing, advising, and mobilizing capital from others. Watch video
1957
IFC’s first loan: $2 million to help Siemens’ Brazilian affiliate manufacture electrical equipment. Watch video
1959
First syndication: IFC mobilizes $2 million from a group of banks for Brazilian pulp and paper company Champion Celulose.
1961
IFC’s charter amended to allow equity investments—in time, a key to its profitability.
1962
First equity investment: approximately $500,000 stake in Spanish auto parts manufacturer Fabrica Espanola Magnetos.
| GLOBAL CONTEXT |
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1945: WWII ends in a divided Europe
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