DCM BAOBAB SN Bond (IFC-50300)

Countries
  • Senegal
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
Nov 11, 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
Baobab Senegal
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)
$ 8.72 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)
$ 33.70 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 Sep 25, 2025

Disclosed by Bank Jun 27, 2025

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Can you contribute information about this project?
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.

According to the Bank’s website, the proposed project consists of an anchor investment of up to XOF5 billion (US$8.4 million equivalent) in Baobab Senegal (BBSN)’s Sustainable Bond Issuance (XOF20 billion or about US$33.7 million), the first from the private sector in the WAEMU. This investment will take the form of an unfunded risk participation for the African Local Currency Bond Fund Limited SICAV-RAIF (ALCBF or the Fund), a dedicated pan-African structured debt fund and an IFC client that will invest on IFC's behalf. At least 40 percent of the Bond proceeds will support women-owned/led MSMEs (WMSMEs) (the Project). Despite the unfunded participation through ALCBF, IFC will have direct recourse to BBSN in the event of a material policy breach.

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 an unfunded risk participation to a sustainable bond issued on behalf of Baobab Senegal to support micro and small enterprises (<US$20k). The key sectors include energy efficiency, sustainable agriculture and fishing, sustainable transportation, health services and other. Based on the supported portfolio, the project has been categorized as FI-2 in accordance with IFC’s Sustainability Policy. The key risks and impacts of the project derive from the subsidiaries’ capacity to identify and manage potential E&S risks associated with its lending activities. These risks are typically associated with labor and working conditions, occupational health and safety, pollution prevention and atmospheric emissions, waste and wastewater management, amongst others.

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

The investment consists of an unfunded risk participation on IFC’s own account.
IFC's Investment as Approved by the Board: Guarantee 8.72 million (USD)

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.

Baobab is a longstanding partner of IFC, as one of the first microfinance networks to implement the 2006 Microfinance Initiative for Sub-Saharan Africa. Baobab Senegal is the largest African affiliate of the group. It was licensed as a non-bank financial institution (NBFI) under the WAEMU regulation for MFIs and is supervised by the WAEMU subregion’s central bank, BCEAO. Baobab Senegal started operations in September 2007 and has had early success in providing credit, savings, and remittance transfer services to micro and small businesses starting in the capital city of Dakar. Baobab Senegal has grown to be one of the leading MFIs in the country, providing an array of products through branches and agency banking. It has an important role in developing and implementing the Group’s digital strategy and serves as the testing ground for all new Group products. Baobab Senegal is mainly owned by Baobab Group (89.3% stake), and the insurance group SONAM through 3 entities (10.7%).

Private Actor 1 Private Actor 1 Role Private Actor 1 Sector Relation Private Actor 2 Private Actor 2 Role Private Actor 2 Sector
- - - - Baobab Group Parent Company -

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.

Baobab Senegal
Serigne Bamba Mbacke Diop
Deputy Managing Director
bdiop@baobab.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

How it works

How it works