DCM FRB CWB (IFC-52393)

Countries
  • South Africa
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
FI
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
Mar 20, 2026
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
FIRSTRAND BANK LTD
A public entity (government or state-owned) provided with funds or financial support to manage and/or implement a project.
Sectors
  • Agriculture and Forestry
  • Finance
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)
$ 100.57 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)
$ 148.52 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.
Currency conversion note:
Bank reported 25000
Converted using 2026-04-01 exchange rate.
Primary Source

Original disclosure @ IFC website

Updated in EWS Aug 11, 2026

Disclosed by Bank Apr 1, 2026

Contribute Information
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 bank provided information, the proposed investment is an up to ZAR1.6 billion IFC anchor investment in a senior unsecured outcome-based bond to be issued by FirstRand Bank Limited (FRB or the Bank). The proceeds of the IFC investment will be earmarked for on-lending to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in the agriculture sector in South Africa. The outcome-based structure will support the implementation of a conservation project which aims to remove invasive plants for the ecological restoration of water availability in the Wemmershoek, Steenbras and the Berg River catchment areas. The final yield for the noteholders will be determined based on the success of this conservation project.

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

The proposed Project involves an IFC anchor investment of up to ZAR1.6 billion in a senior unsecured outcome-based bond, for a total target issuance of ZAR2.5 billion.     

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.

FRB provides a comprehensive range of retail, commercial, corporate and investment banking services in South Africa and offers niche products in certain international markets. It is the second largest bank in South Africa by total assets. The Bank has three major divisions, which are separately branded: First National Bank, WesBank, and Rand Merchant Bank. FRB is wholly owned by FirstRand Limited (FirstRand), a leading financial institution in Africa. FirstRand is listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange and the Namibian Stock Exchange. As of June 2025, the Public Investment Corporation held 15.7% of FirstRand’s shares and no other shareholder held more than 5%. Direct corporate shareholders included Royal Bafokeng Holdings and Remgro, holding together 4.2%. FRB is the largest operating subsidiary of FirstRand.   


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.

FirstRand Bank Limited
Cameron Gough
Head of Structured Finance, FirstRand Group Treasury
dlfirstranddebtnotices@firstrand.co.za
4 Merchant Place, Corner Fredman and Rivonia Road, Sandton 2196, South Africa
www.firstrand.co.za

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