DCM FRG FLAC (IFC-53156)

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
May 26, 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 Limited
A public entity (government or state-owned) provided with funds or financial support to manage and/or implement a project.
Sectors
  • 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)
$ 104.00 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 Oct 8, 2026

Disclosed by Bank Jun 23, 2026

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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 bank provided information, the proposed project is an up to ZAR1.7 billion (approximately US$104 million) IFC anchor investment in Financial Loss Absorbing Capital (Flac) bonds issued by FirstRand Limited (FirstRand or the Group), an existing IFC client. The proceeds of the IFC investment will be used by FirstRand Bank Limited (FRB or the Bank), a wholly owned subsidiary of FirstRand, for on-lending to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in the agriculture sector (Agri-MSMEs) in South Africa. (the Project). 

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

The Project involves an IFC anchor investment of up to ZAR1.7 billion in Flac bonds issued by FirstRand and listed on the JSE’s interest rate market.  

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.

FirstRand Limited is a leading financial institution in Africa and publicly listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) as well as the Namibian Stock Exchange (NSX). As of June 2025, the Public Investment Corporation held 15.7% of FirstRand’s shares and no other shareholder held more than 5%.

FRB offers retail, commercial, corporate, and investment banking services in South Africa as well as niche products in certain international markets. It has three main divisions: First National Bank (FNB), for retail and commercial banking; Rand Merchant Bank (RMB), for corporate and investment banking; and WesBank, for asset-based finance. Through FNB, FRB operates a nationwide branch network. The Bank employs approximately 40,000 people.    


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.

For Inquiries About the Project, Contact

FirstRand Bank Limited
Cameron Gough
Head: Structured Finance, FirstRand Group Treasury
(+27) 112821140
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