SLGP Rawbank Agri SME (IFC-49914)

Countries
  • Congo, Democratic Republic of
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
Approved
Stage of the project cycle. Stages vary by development bank and can include: pending, approval, implementation, and closed or completed.
Bank Risk Rating
B
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
Dec 13, 2024
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
Rawbank DRC RSF
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)
Guarantee
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.
Primary Source

Original disclosure @ IFC website

Updated in EWS Mar 16, 2025

Disclosed by Bank Nov 11, 2024

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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 project consists of an unfunded Risk Sharing Facility (RSF) of up to US$50 million to Rawbank (“RB” or the “Bank”) in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The proposed investment will be processed under the Small Loan Guarantee Program (“SLGP”), a programmatic approach to risk sharing which aims to enhance and strengthen the capacity of financial institutions for risk taking and financing of SMEs in eligible countries and is supported by the European Commission and the International Development Association (IDA19) Private Sector Window Blended Finance Facility. IFC will guarantee 50% of the Bank’s credit risk on a US$100 million portfolio of eligible Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) credit facilities including a US$10 million portfolio of eligible Agri SME loans. The SLGP RSF aims to support the Bank’s financing program to SMEs including agri-based SMEs in DRC.          

Additionally, the Project is expected to be supported by the Global SME Finance Facility (“GSMEF”), subject to achieving agreed targets, in the form of a performance-based incentive (“PBI”) of up to US$0.6 million to incentivize the Bank’s lending to Women-owned SMEs (“WSMEs”).

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 consists of an RSF, under the SLGP to guarantee a portfolio of SMEs with a carveout for Agri SMEs. The Bank’s current SME portfolio includes exposures to sectors such as commerce, agriculture, and construction and transportation. As such, the portfolio supported under the RSFs is expected to comprise business activities with limited adverse environmental and social risks or impacts that are few in number, generally site-specific, largely reversible and readily addressable through mitigation measures. As part of the project, the Bank will be required to screen eligible SMEs against the IFC Exclusion List and national E&S laws and regulations in DRC. The project will not support coal related activities, mining activities and Higher Risk Transactions that may include: a) involuntary resettlement, b) risk of adverse impacts on Indigenous Peoples, c) significant risks to or impacts on environment, community health and safety, biodiversity, cultural heritage, or d) significant Occupational Health and Safety risks.
The main E&S risks and impacts of this project relate to the ability of the Bank to identify and manage the potential E&S risks and impacts associated with the lending activities to SMEs, as well as the bank’s labor practices. The E&S risks and impacts associated with SME activities are typically low to medium environmental and social risks such as waste management, pollution prevention, labor and working conditions and occupational health and safety, etc.

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

The Project consists of an RSF of up to US$50 million to Rawbank to support the Bank’s financing program to SMEs, including agri SMEs. This includes financing for growth capital expenditures and working capital. The DRC is classified as a low-income country (LIC) and a fragile and conflict-affected situation (FCS) country by IDA.

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.

Rawbank is the largest bank in DRC, with a balance sheet of US$5.5 billion as of June 2024 and a market share of 29% based on total assets. The Bank is majority-owned by the Rawji family and operates exclusively in DRC. Rawbank is owned by: RawHolding, S.A. (94.2%), Minzoto Holding (5%), and Other Shareholders (0.8%). RawHolding S.A. Composition (with 20% each): (1) Mr. Mazhar Rawji, (2) Mr. Musthaque Rawji, (3) Mr. Murtaza Rawji, (4) Mr. Aslam Rawji, and (5) ZMR Holdings Ltd, held by Mr. Ali Rawji, Mr. Azhar Rawji, and Mr. Adnan Rawji.


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.

Rawbank
Laurence Feza
Head of DFI
+243996016300
laurence.feza@rawbank.cd
12/66 crossing of avenues Katanga and Colonel Lukusa, Kinshasa, DRC
rawbank.com

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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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