BOP2 VFMFI (IFC-49630)

Countries
  • Ethiopia
Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.
Financial Institutions
  • International Finance Corporation (IFC)
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
C
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."
Voting Date
May 31, 2025
Date when project documentation and funding is reviewed by the Board for consideration and approval. Some development banks will state a "board date" or "decision date." When funding approval is obtained, the legal documents are accepted and signed, the implementation phase begins.
Borrower
VisionFund Microfinance Institution (S.C)
A public entity (government or state-owned) provided with funds or financial support to manage and/or implement a project.
Sectors
  • Finance
  • Industry and Trade
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)
$ 20.00 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.
Project Cost (USD)
$ 30.00 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.
Primary Source

Original disclosure @ IFC website

Updated in EWS May 25, 2025

Disclosed by Bank Apr 17, 2025

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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.

According to the Bank’s website, the proposed investment under the umbrella of the Base of the Pyramid Two (BOP2) Platform, consists of a three-year senior unsecured deliverable Ethiopian Biir (ETB) loan of up to US$30 million equivalent in local currency (LCY) to Visionfund Microfinance Institution S.C. (“VFMFI”), split as follows: (i) up to US$20 million on IFC own account, and (ii) up to US$10 million syndicated from parallel lenders. The use of proceeds of the IFC loan will be to on-lend to informal businesses and micro-enterprises in Ethiopia particularly women-owned business (at least 40% of the use of proceed) to help preserve and sustain low-income jobs.

Subject to approval, the Project will be supported by a pooled first loss guarantee (“PFLG”) of up to US$40 million provided by International Development Association’s Private Sector Window Blended Finance Facility (IDA-PSW BFF) allocated to the BOP Envelope under the MSME Finance Platform, as well as IDA-PSW Local Currency Facility (LCF) in the form of a cross-currency swap.

Early Warning System Project Analysis
For a project with severe or irreversible impacts to local community and natural resources, the Early Warning System Team may conduct a thorough analysis regarding its potential impacts to human and environmental rights.

The project is a three-year unsecured senior loan for Vision Fund Microfinance Institution (Vision Fund) to provide essential local currency funding below US$10,000 to support micro and informal enterprises. The Bank indicated exposure to sectors such as textiles, utilities, Wood Products, Food & Beverages, Construction and Real Estate The clients are small players in these sectors such as tailors, sellers of drinks or other products. The project risk is thus considered low.

The Project has been categorized as FI-3 in accordance with IFC’s Sustainability Policy.

Investment Description
Here you can find a list of individual development financial institutions that finance the project.

A three-year senior unsecured deliverable Ethiopian Biir (ETB) loan of up to US$30 million equivalent in local currency (LCY). US$20 million IFC own account and US$10 million mobilization.

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.
Private Actors Description
A Private Actor is a non-governmental body or entity that is the borrower or client of a development project, which can include corporations, private equity and banks. This describes the private actors and their roles in relation to the project, when private actor information is disclosed or has been further researched.

Visionfund Microfinance Institution S.C. is the largest for-profit privately held deposit taking regulated microfinance institution of Ethiopia, operating 112 branches that spread across the country, serving circa 249 thousand active borrowers and 1.7 million depositors. The institution is owned by 55 private individuals that are prohibited from receiving dividends or transferring shares as per the company bylaws.


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.

VisionFund Microfinance S.C.
Solomon W/Giorgis
Deputy CEO - Corporate Support Services
+251-11-673-3674
info@visionfundmfi.com
Gerji Mebrat Hail, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
www. visionfundmfi.com

ACCESS TO INFORMATION

You can submit a request for information disclosure at: https://disclosures.ifc.org/#/inquiries

If you believe that your request for information from IFC has been unreasonably denied, or that this Policy has been interpreted incorrectly, you can submit a complaint at the link above to IFC's Access to Information Policy Advisor, who reports directly to IFC's Executive Vice President.

ACCOUNTABILITY MECHANISM OF IFC/MIGA

The Compliance Advisor Ombudsman (CAO) is the independent complaint mechanism and fact-finding body for people who believe they are likely to be, or have been, adversely affected by an IFC or MIGA- financed project. If you submit a complaint to the CAO, they may assist you in resolving a dispute with the company and/or investigate to assess whether the IFC is following its own policies and procedures for preventing harm to people or the environment. If you want to submit a complaint electronically, you can email the CAO at CAO@worldbankgroup.org You can learn more about the CAO and how to file a complaint at http://www.cao-ombudsman.org

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How it works