Bangladesh: Sustainable Private Capital Infrastructure Financing (AIIB-000742)

Regions
  • South Asia
Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.
Countries
  • Bangladesh
Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.
Specific Location
Dhaka, Bangladesh
Whenever identified, the area within countries where the impacts of the investment may be experienced. Exact locations of projects may not be identified fully or at all in project documents. Please review updated project documents and community-led assessments.
Financial Institutions
  • Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB)
International, regional and national development finance institutions. Many of these banks have a public interest mission, such as poverty reduction.
Project Status
Proposed
Stage of the project cycle. Stages vary by development bank and can include: pending, approval, implementation, and closed or completed.
Bank Risk Rating
U
Environmental and social categorization assessed by the development bank as a measure of the planned project’s environmental and social impacts. A higher risk rating may require more due diligence to limit or avoid harm to people and the environment. For example, "A" or "B" are risk categories where "A" represents the highest amount of risk. Results will include projects that specifically recorded a rating, all other projects are marked ‘U’ for "Undisclosed."
Borrower
City Bank PLC
A public entity (government or state-owned) provided with funds or financial support to manage and/or implement a project.
Sectors
  • Energy
  • Infrastructure
The service or industry focus of the investment. A project can have several sectors.
Investment Type(s)
Loan
The categories of the bank investment: loan, grant, guarantee, technical assistance, advisory services, equity and fund.
Investment Amount (USD)
$ 50.00 million
Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.
Loan Amount (USD)
$ 50.00 million
Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.
Bank Documents
Other Related Projects
Primary Source

Original disclosure @ AIIB website

Updated in EWS Jan 5, 2025

Disclosed by Bank Nov 22, 2024

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Contact the EWS Team

Project Description
If provided by the financial institution, the Early Warning System Team writes a short summary describing the purported development objective of the project and project components. Review the complete project documentation for a detailed description.

The proposed Project is a senior unsecured term loan of USD50 million to City Bank PLC (CBL) to finance multi-sector infrastructure and energy-efficient sub-projects in Bangladesh. CBL will use the loan proceeds from AIIB to extend financing to sub-borrowers involved in infrastructure development and energy-efficient activities across the country.

Established in 1983, CBL is a leading private commercial bank headquartered in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Known for its universal banking approach, CBL offers a wide range of services, including retail, corporate, small and medium-sized enterprise (SME), women, and digital banking, along with asset management, equity brokerage, and securities. CBL also specializes in Islamic banking, investment banking, and remittance services, with a strategic focus on expanding its retail and SME segments to diversify its portfolio.

Estimated Date of Financing Approval: Q1 2025

 

ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL INFORMATION

Applicable Policy and Categorization
The AIIB's Environmental and Social Policy (ESP), along with its Exclusion List (ESEL) and Standards (ESSs), applies to this project. Since the funding will be provided through a financial institution (FI), the project is categorized as "FI." This means AIIB allows CBL to decide how AIIB's funds will be used, as long as the infrastructure sub-projects meet agreed conditions. CBL will handle the selection, evaluation, approval, and monitoring of sub-projects and ensure they comply with AIIB's ESP rules. Activities like coal mining, coal transportation, coal-fired power plants, related infrastructure, and gas-related projects will not be funded.

 

Environmental and Social Issues


The loan will support sub-projects in areas like renewable energy and digital infrastructure. Most environmental and social (E&S) risks will come from construction and operations, such as impacts on sensitive areas, land acquisition, health and safety, biodiversity, and Indigenous communities. High-risk sub-projects will need AIIB’s prior review. Before CBL can disburse funds, AIIB and CBL must approve the sub-projects. CBL will submit an annual E&S performance report to AIIB. Additionally, AIIB will review the first three sub-projects, all high-risk projects (Category A), and those involving significant risks before funds are used. Sub-projects will be categorized based on AIIB’s E&S guidelines.

 

Additionally, sub-borrowers will disclose their E&S instruments for Category A at least 60 calendar days before the final approval of the sub-project activity. CBL will continue to disclose its E&S performance on its website in a timely manner, as well as its Annual Sustainability Report.

 

Project Grievance Redress Mechanism (GRM).
The Project has an existing Complaint Management Cell managed by a selected compliance team to receive complaints and related reports/issues, which will be used as the Project GRM. PPM will disclose in both English and Bangla

Investment Description
Here you can find a list of individual development financial institutions that finance the project.
Financial Intermediary
A financial intermediary is a bank or financial institution that receives funds from a development bank. A financial intermediary then lends these funds to their clients (private actors) in the form of loans, bonds, guarantees and equity shares. Financial intermediaries include insurance, pension and equity funds. The direct financial relationship is between the development bank and the financial intermediary.

Contact Information
This section aims to support the local communities and local CSO to get to know which stakeholders are involved in a project with their roles and responsibilities. If available, there may be a complaint office for the respective bank which operates independently to receive and determine violations in policy and practice. Independent Accountability Mechanisms receive and respond to complaints. Most Independent Accountability Mechanisms offer two functions for addressing complaints: dispute resolution and compliance review.

ACCESS TO INFORMATION

PROJECT TEAM LEADER of AIIB: Neeraj Jain (Senior Investment Officer)

Contact: neeraj.jain@aiib.org

 

BORROWER: City Bank PLC

Md. Rafiq Ibne Nur Reza (Head of Agency and OBU Business, Operations and Reporting)

Contact: rafiq.reza@citybankplc.com

 

You can submit an information request for project information at: https://www.aiib.org/en/contact/information-request/index.html

ACCOUNTABILITY MECHANISM OF AIIB

The AIIB has established the Accountability Mechanism for Project-Affected People (PPM). The PPM provides Òan opportunity for an independent and impartial review of submissions from Project-affected people who believe they have been or are likely to be adversely affected by AIIBÕs failure to implement the ESP in situations when their concerns cannot be addressed satisfactorily through Project level GRMs or AIIB Management processes.Ó Two or more project-affected people can file a complaint. Under the current AIIB policy, when the bank co-finances a project with another development bank, it may apply the other bank's standards. You can refer to the Project Summary Information document to find out which standards apply. You can learn more about the PPM and how to file a complaint at: https://www.aiib.org/en/about-aiib/who-we-are/project-affected-peoples-mechanism/how-we-assist-you/index.html

The complaint submission form can be accessed in Arabic, Bahasa Indonesia, Bengali, Chinese, English, Tagalog, Hindi, Nepali, Russian, Turkish, or Urdu. The submission form can be found at: https://www.aiib.org/en/about-aiib/who-we-are/project-affected-peoples-mechanism/submission/index.html

How it works

How it works