URP Saham Bank (IFC-52127)

Countries
  • Morocco
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
A
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 4, 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
URP Saham Bank
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)
$ 250.00 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 Dec 29, 2025

Disclosed by Bank Nov 7, 2025

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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.

According to the Bank’s website, the project is an IFC investment through an unfunded risk participation (URP) of up to US$250 million equivalent for IFC’s own account, covering a portfolio of eligible borrowers. The URP has been executed with Société Générale SA (SG) in France before, transitioning to a direct URP with Saham Bank in Morocco, ensuring continuity in lending to strategic sectors in Morocco and supporting Saham Bank’s operations under Saham’s sponsorship.

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 URP will support the Bank’s strategic corporate lending in Morocco. The E&S risks associated with the corporate portfolio are medium to high. Therefore, the Project is categorized as FI-1 according to IFC's Policy on Environmental and Social Sustainability. The key E&S risks and impacts of the Project derive from Saham Bank's 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, land acquisition and resettlement, biodiversity impacts among others.

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

An unfunded risk participation (URP) of up to US$250 million equivalent for IFC’s own account.

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.

Operating since 1913, Saham Bank, formerly Société Générale Marocaine de Banques, is Morocco’s fifth largest bank in terms of asset as of December 31, 2024.  It was acquired by Saham Group from Société Générale SA in December 2024 and renamed Saham Bank in June 2025.

Saham bank is owned by Mr. Moulay Hafid Elalamy (18.20%), and Saham Finances (51.0%), which in turn is 92.85% owned and controlled by Mr. Moulay Hafid Elalamy. The remaining shareholders include Group Deveco Souss (15.54%), and various minority shareholders collectively holding 15.26%, each with less than 4% ownership.


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.

Saham Bank S.A.
Francois Marchal
Directeur général - Membre du Directoire, supervision Corporate and Investment Banking
+212 522 43 88 49
francois.marcha@sahambank.com
55, Bd Abdelmoumen 20100 Casablanca
www.sahambank.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