Frequently Asked Questions
IFC is a member of the World Bank Group, which consists of five closely associated institutions that are owned by member countries. Each plays a distinct role in helping fight poverty and improve lives.
IFC promotes economic development through private sector. Working with business partners, IFC invests in sustainable private enterprises in developing countries without the need for government guarantees. This direct lending to businesses is the fundamental contrast between IFC and the World Bank: under their Articles of Agreement, IBRD and IDA can only lend to the governments of member countries. IFC was founded specifically to address this limitation in World Bank lending.
IFC also offers advisory services to support private sector development. Most of these activities are funded in partnership with donor countries; many involve close collaboration with the World Bank.
IFC provides a wide range of investment and advisory services that help businesses and entrepreneurs in the developing world meet the challenges they face in the marketplace.
IFC offers innovative financial products to private sector projects in developing countries. These include loans for IFC's own account (also called A-loans), equity financing, quasi-equity financing, syndicated loans (or B-loans), risk management products, and partial credit guarantees. IFC often provides funding to financial intermediaries that on-lend to clients, especially small and medium enterprises.
IFC also provides advisory services that help build businesses. Much of IFC's advisory work is conducted by facilities managed by IFC but funded through partnerships with donor governments and other multilateral institutions. Other sources of funding include donor country trust funds and IFC's own resources.
IFC can provide a mix of financing and advisory services that is tailored to meet the needs of each project. But the bulk of the funding, as well as leadership and management responsibility, lies with private sector owners and investors.
Learn more about IFC's Products & Services or IFC Financing.
As of FY17, IFC had 184 member countries.
To join IFC, a country must be a member of IBRD; have signed IFC's Articles of Agreement; and have deposited with the World Bank Group's Corporate Secretariat an Instrument of Acceptance of IFC's Articles of Agreement. Learn more...
No, IFC is a financier of development projects and not a retail bank.
IFC invests in private enterprises: companies, financial institutions, and other businesses that are majority-owned by the private sector and that operate in IFC's developing member countries. IFC does not lend directly to micro, small, and medium enterprises or individual entrepreneurs, but many of our investment clients are financial intermediaries that on-lend to smaller businesses. Many of IFC's investments are provided in combination with advisory services.
In partnership with other investors, IFC provides clients with loans and intermediary services, loan participations, equity, structured finance, trade finance, risk management products, and subnational finance. IFC is providing a rapidly growing share of its financing in local currency.
IFC provides a limited amount of grant funding to business initiatives that innovate in specific practice areas: biodiversity, sustainable energy, and corporate responsibility. Such grants are typically provided in much smaller amounts than IFC's investments, and the funding is intended to help recipients demonstrate the commercial viability of new approaches to sustainability.
IFC seeks partners for joint ventures and raises additional financing by encouraging other institutions to invest in IFC projects. Resource mobilization—catalyzing funds from private investors and lenders for private sector projects in developing countries—is one of IFC's most essential functions. The bonds that IFC issues to fund its operations are also an opportunity for investors; see investor information. IFC does not issue stock; it is owned by its member countries, each of which provided share capital when joining IFC.
Yes. To be eligible for IFC funding, a project must:
- Be located in a developing country that is a member of IFC
- Be in the private sector
- Be technically sound
- Have good prospects of being profitable
- Benefit the local economy
- Be environmentally and socially sound, satisfying IFC environmental and social standards as well as those of the host country
Visit the Websites of IFC's expertise areas to learn about the industries that qualify for IFC financing. The IFC Exclusion List defines the types of projects that IFC does not finance, including those that are hazardous to the environment or harmful to human health and well-being.
To receive IFC funding, the project must benefit a developing country that is a member of IFC. Projects in selected sectors, such as information technology, may be located in an industrialized country if the benefits primarily accrue to a developing country or countries.
IFC investments typically range from $1 million to $100 million, with a limited number of investments in the $100,000 to $1 million range. To ensure the participation of investors and lenders from the private sector, IFC typically finances no more than 25 percent of the total estimated project costs.
There is no standard application form for IFC financing. A company seeking to establish a new venture or expand an existing enterprise can approach IFC directly. This is best done by reading About IFC Financing, and by submitting an investment proposal.
Proposals can be submitted to IFC's sector/industry departments; regional departments at IFC headquarters in Washington; or the IFC field office closest to the location of the proposed project. To determine the appropriate department to submit the proposal to, read more about IFC's corporate structure and investment operations.
IFC's regional field offices contact information:
- East Asia & the Pacific
- Europe & Central Asia
- Latin America & the Caribbean
- Middle East & North Africa
- South Asia
- Sub-Saharan Africa
IFC's sector/industry departments contact information:
IFC does procure consultancy services within its investment and advisory projects. If you would like to make the services of your company available to enterprises involved in IFC or World Bank projects, you must register with the World Bank's DACON Center, a consultant firm registration database. This can be done online at http://www.dgmarket.com/dacon/.
Please note, only registered vendors can receive contract awards from IFC, but you do not need to be registered to be eligible to participate in bidding opportunities. Effective April 1, 2009, all bidding opportunities above $50K will be advertised at dgMarket (http://www.dgmarket.com/).
IFC's Publications site is a valuable resource tool where you can find IFC's Annual Reports other corporate publications.
For World Bank Research and Publications, visit http://www.worldbank.org/publications.
IFC encourages other organizations to link to our Website but do not accept link exchanges that are not related to our core business. External links to UN institutions, organizations, and other development programs are subject to specific legal terms and conditions.
We encourage you to review the career opportunities available at IFC. Opportunity listings are available for all aspects of our operations, including investment, legal, environment and social development, economics, treasury, financial operations, advisory services, and risk management.
IFC offers a summer internship program. We hire interns each year for a minimum period of four weeks to work on select development projects in Washington, D.C., or in one of IFC's offices worldwide. These are paid positions and are highly competitive. For more information about the program, please visit Summer Internship Webpage.
IFC does not have any formal internship programs for high school or college students. However, IFC has several other recruitment programs available for prospective hires. These include opportunities for both recent college graduates and mid-career professionals.
IFC does not offer loans or grants to sponsor individuals in need of financing for education, training, or research.
The World Bank's Department of Institutional Integrity (INT) investigates allegations of fraud or corruption in World Bank Group-financed operations, as well as allegations of staff misconduct within the Bank Group.
Examples of issues that should be reported to INT for further review include suspected contract irregularities and violations of the Bank's procurement guidelines; bid manipulation; bid collusion; coercive practices; fraudulent bids; fraud in contract performance; fraud in an audit inquiry; product substitution; price manipulation; substandard or inferior parts or materials; cost or labor mischarges; kickbacks, bribery, or acceptance of gratuities; abuse of authority; misuse of Bank Group funds or funds entrusted to the Bank Group; travel-related fraud; theft and embezzlement; benefits and allowance fraud; conflict of interest; misrepresentation; forgery; or involvement of Bank Group staff in any of the aforementioned. Learn more...
No, IFC does not distribute cash entitlements. If you receive a fraudulent e-mail stating that you have won money, a lottery, etc., please do not provide any personal or bank account information, instead notify IFC's General Inquiries and the World Bank's Department of Institutional Integrity.
The term "IFC project" refers, traditionally, to a commercial investment made by IFC and its partners—a transaction involving a loan, equity investment, guarantee, or other financial product from IFC, in conjunction with funding from other commercial investors. Today, IFC's projects also encompass a growing number of specific technical assistance and advisory activities. Often, IFC provides a combination of financing and technical assistance to a client company.
IFC undertakes projects only in client countries: that is, developing countries that are members of IFC. Our membership also includes industrialized countries, whose companies often invest alongside IFC. In addition, many of our industrialized members are donors to our technical assistance and advisory operations, both through trust funds and a network of multidonor facilities operated by IFC.
IFC uses "project categories" as a concise way of indicating the level of environmental and social concern posted by a proposed investment. Projects are assigned a category of A, B, or C, in descending order of environmental and social sensitivity, or FI, in the case of financial institutions that on-lend to clients who may present environmental and social concerns.
The project category governs how IFC's Disclosure Policy will apply to the proposed investment. For the most sensitive projects, IFC discloses more information and does so farther in advance of the Board discussion that determines whether IFC should provide funding. For more information, see Environmental and Social Categories.
IFC's Board of Directors consists of representatives of all member countries, who meet regularly at headquarters in Washington, D.C. Directors review and decide on all investment projects and provide overall guidance to IFC's management. IFC's Disclosure Policy requires that key project documents be publicly disclosed in advance of the Board discussion.
No IFC investment can go forward to commitment and disbursement of funds without Board approval. But Board approval does not, in itself, ensure that funds will be committed and disbursed for the approved investment. Learn more...
An IFC client is a legal entity to which IFC provides financial products or services. A client is usually a company, financial institution, or other private enterprise. A client may be either pre-existing enterprise, or a new company set up as part of the project in which IFC is investing.
A sponsor is a stakeholder or other investor involved in an IFC project. Because IFC is intended to serve as a catalyst for investment from the private sector, we pursue projects in collaboration with other investors or lenders.
Yes: in fact, our Articles of Agreement require IFC to operate on commercial terms and to make a profit, which we have done every year since our founding in 1956.
Pending approval: The investment proposal has not yet been reviewed by the IFC Board of Directors.
Pending signing: The IFC Board of Directors has approved the investment, but the investment has not yet been committed. In other words, IFC and the project sponsor have not yet signed the deal with a legally binding agreement.
Pending disbursement: IFC and the project sponsor have signed an investment agreement, but funds are yet to be disbursed.
Active: IFC has started to disburse funds and/or has taken an equity stake in the company. Disbursements may be ongoing or may be completed. The investment is outstanding.
Completed: The loan has been repaid or, in the case of an equity investment, IFC has sold its shares in the company.
Approved + date: This is the date the IFC Board of Directors approved the investment. It may or may not be the same date as the projected board date, which is often estimated before an actual board date can be scheduled.
Signed + date: This is the date IFC and the project sponsor signed the legally binding investment agreement.
Invested + date: This is the date IFC started to disburse funds and/or took an equity stake in the company.
Each IFC investment project must be presented for consideration and approval by its Board of Directors. Prior to this, IFC discloses a Summary of Investment Information (SII) and, if relevant, an Environmental and Social Review Summary (ESRS), depending on the Environmental and Social Category. For all Category A investments, disclosure occurs 60 days prior to consideration by IFC's Board of Directors. For all other investments, disclosure occurs 30 days prior to Board discussion. Learn more about what IFC discloses.
The IFC Exclusion List defines the types of projects that IFC does not finance.
In accordance to IFC's public disclosure policy, IFC provides public online project portal, which displays all projects currently under consideration, active, on hold, or completed. This database allows you to search available projects by specific sector, region, country, environmental category, performance standards, or keyword.
For Category B projects, IFC prepares a summary of the key findings of the environmental review in an Environmental and Social Review Summary (ESRS). This document includes measures to mitigate, monitor, and manage environmental and social issues. The ESRS is disclosed to the public locally and on IFC's public online project portal no later than 30 days before the project is to be considered by IFC's Board of Directors.
For Category A projects, the project sponsor prepares an extensive environmental report, including an evaluation of the project's possible environmental and social impacts; measures designed to manage, mitigate, and monitor those impacts; and details of public consultations. IFC prepares a summary of the key findings of the environmental review in an Environmental and Social Review Summary (ESRS). No later than 60 days before the project is to be considered by IFC's Board of Directors, the ESRS is disclosed on IFC's public online project portal.
An SII summarizes the main elements of a project. It covers information on sponsors, shareholders, project cost, the purpose of the project, and environmental issues.
For most projects, the SII is disclosed to the public on IFC's public online project portal no later than 30 days before the project is to be considered by IFC's Board of Directors. For a Category A project, the SII is disclosed to the public no later than 60 days before the project is to be considered by the Board of Directors.
ESRS stands for Environmental and Social Review Summary. For each proposed Category A or B investment, IFC issues a summary of its review findings and recommendations: an ESRS. IFC does not issue an ESRS for Category C or FI projects—that is, for investments expected to have minimal or no social and environmental adverse impacts, or investments in financial intermediary projects.
The ESRS includes:
- reference to the Performance Standards and any applicable grievance mechanisms, including the CAO;
- the rationale for IFC’s categorization of a project;
- a description of the main environmental and social risks and impacts of the project;
- key measures identified to mitigate those risks and impacts, specifying any supplemental actions that will need to be implemented to undertake the project in a manner consistent with the Performance Standards, or where required by IFC, the Environmental and Social Action Plan (ESAP)
- where greater than 25,000 MT CO2 equivalent, the expected GHG emissions of the project;
- electronic copies or web links, where available, to any relevant Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) documents prepared by or on behalf of the client; and
- for those projects where the verification of the Free, Prior, and Informed Consent22 (FPIC) of indigenous peoples is required, a description of the status of that consent process.
The project (or investment) cycle illustrates the stages a business proposal goes through as it becomes an IFC-financed project.
If you believe that your request for information has been unreasonably denied, or that the Policy has been interpreted incorrectly, you may submit an appeal through IFC’s Inquiries system to the Disclosure Policy Advisor, who reports directly to IFC's Executive Vice President. The advisor will review your complaint and inform you in writing of his or her conclusions and reasons for the conclusions. The advisor will endeavor to respond within 60 calendar days of receipt of the further inquiry, unless additional time is required because of the scope or complexity of the request.
Most inquiries about IFC’s projects are requests for disclosure of information, to which IFC responds directly. But if you believe that you are negatively affected by an IFC project, you can instead submit your complaint to the Compliance Advisor Ombudsman (CAO), an independent office that reports directly to the President of the World Bank Group regarding IFC and MIGA projects. Such complaints are addressed by the CAO’s office, through a process separate from IFC itself.
An environmental and social category is assigned to an investment project after appraisal and before public disclosure during the IFC project/investment cycle. Projects are assigned a category of A, B, or C, in descending order of environmental and social sensitivity, or FI-1, FI-2, or FI-3, in the case of financial institutions that on-lend to clients who may present environmental and social concerns.
CATEGORY A: Business activities with potential significant adverse environmental or social risks and/or impacts that are diverse, irreversible, or unprecedented.
CATEGORY B: Business activities with potential limited adverse environmental or social risks and/or impacts that are few in number, generally site-specific, largely reversible, and readily addressed through mitigation measures.
CATEGORY C: Business activities with minimal or no adverse environmental or social risks and/or impacts.
CATEGORY FI: Business activities involving investments in financial institutions (FIs) or through delivery mechanisms involving financial intermediation. This category is further divided into:
- FI–1: when an FI’s existing or proposed portfolio includes, or is expected to include, substantial financial exposure to business activities with potential significant adverse environmental or social risks or impacts that are diverse, irreversible, or unprecedented.
- FI–2: when an FI’s existing or proposed portfolio is comprised of, or is expected to be comprised of, business activities that have potential limited adverse environmental or social risks or impacts that are few in number, generally site-specific, largely reversible, and readily addressed through mitigation measures; or includes a very limited number of business activities with potential significant adverse environmental or social risks or impacts that are diverse, irreversible, or unprecedented.
- FI–3: when an FI’s existing or proposed portfolio includes financial exposure to business activities that predominantly have minimal or no adverse environmental or social impacts.
ESRS stands for Environmental and Social Review Summary. In accordance with the Performance Standards, IFC requires its clients to engage with Affected Communities, including through the disclosure of information, in a manner commensurate with the risks and impacts their projects pose to such stakeholders. IFC makes publicly available the following environmental and social information:
- Direct Investments. For each proposed Category A and B project, IFC discloses a summary of its review findings and recommendations, the Environmental and Social Review Summary (ESRS).
- Financial Intermediary Investments. For Category FI-1 and FI-2 investments, IFC discloses the following through the SII:
- the rationale for IFC’s categorization of the investment;
- a description of the main environmental and social risks and impacts associated with IFC’s investment and a summary of the Environmental and Social Management System (ESMS); and
- key measures identified to strengthen the ESMS, as specified in the ESAP.
The ESRS includes:
- reference to the Performance Standards and any applicable grievance mechanisms, including the CAO;
- the rationale for IFC’s categorization of a project;
- a description of the main environmental and social risks and impacts of the project;
- key measures identified to mitigate those risks and impacts, specifying any supplemental actions that will need to be implemented to undertake the project in a manner consistent with the Performance Standards, or where required by IFC, the Environmental and Social Action Plan (ESAP)
- where greater than 25,000 MT CO2 equivalent, the expected GHG emissions of the project;
- electronic copies or web links, where available, to any relevant Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) documents prepared by or on behalf of the client; and
- for those projects where the verification of the Free, Prior, and Informed Consent22 (FPIC) of indigenous peoples is required, a description of the status of that consent process.
Yes. The ESRS is released prior to consideration of the proposed investment for approval by IFC's Board of Directors (or other relevant internal authority). For Category A projects, it is released no later than 60 days before the Board date; for Category B projects, no later than 30 days before the Board date. Before IFC releases the ESRS, the IFC client reviews its content to verify the factual accuracy of information about the project. The ESRS is released to the public locally and on IFC’s public online project portal.
After its initial disclosure to the public, social and environmental review information may be updated prior to consideration by IFC's Board of Directors (or other relevant internal authority) in order to reflect the revised or additional information. Any such revised or additional information will be made publicly available.
To view the list of recently approved SII or ESRS documents, please click here, and filter under “Project Status” for “Approved” projects.
SII stands for Summary of Investment Information. Each SII summarizes the main elements of an IFC project, including information on sponsors, shareholders, project cost, the purpose of the project, and environmental issues.
For most projects, the SII is disclosed to the public on IFC's public online project portal no later than 30 days before the project is to be considered by IFC's Board of Directors. For a Category A project, the SII is disclosed to the public no later than 60 days before the project is to be considered by the Board of Directors.
The SII includes the following information: the identity of the project company; information about the shareholders of the project company; the total project cost, where applicable; the location of the project; a brief description of the project and its purpose; the amount and nature of IFC's investment in the project; the projected date for a decision on the project by IFC's Board of Directors; the project's anticipated development impact; IFC's expected development contribution; IFC's categorization of the project for social and environmental purposes (including, for Category C projects, a brief statement of the rationale for such categorization); and reference to the social and environmental information available for the project, including to any ESRS.
Yes. For most projects, the SII is disclosed to the public on IFC's public online project portal no later than 30 days before the project is to be considered by IFC's Board of Directors. For a Category A project, the SII is disclosed to the public no later than 60 days before the project is to be considered by IFC's Board of Directors.
To view the list of recently approved SII or ESRS documents, please click here, and filter under “Project Status” for “Approved” projects.
Please note that IFC is involved only in the financing of projects, and has no part in the procurement process for any of these projects.
The local project company is responsible for all aspects of procurement, such as evaluation of bids and contract awards, and is the contact point for any information regarding the bidding process. The project company is identified in the Summary of Investment Information for each project.
