Bank of Palestine Advisory (IFC-609458)

Countries
  • Palestine, West Bank, Gaza
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
U
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
Feb 5, 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
Bank of Palestine Plc
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)
Advisory Services
The categories of the bank investment: loan, grant, guarantee, technical assistance, advisory services, equity and fund.
Investment Amount (USD)
$ 0.24 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)
$ 0.24 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 3, 2025

Disclosed by Bank Jun 9, 2025

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 the Bank’s website, the support to BoP will be delivered through the two components (i) ESG and (ii) Climate Risk, divided into the following six (6) pillars:
i) ESG Component:
• Pillar I: Review and strengthen the Group Governance Frameworks for BOP and its main subsidiaries, ensuring appropriate linkages, synergies, and commitment to good corporate governance across the group.
• Pillar II: Capacity building for an environmental and social management system (ESMS) and E&S due diligence (ESDD) to support the Bank’s identification and management of E&S risks
• Pillar III: Support the Bank’s development of a sustainability strategy for BOP to address material sustainability issues.
• Pillar V: Build capacity on Climate Governance, specifically how the Board can oversee that the Bank can identify and respond to climate risks and opportunities.
• Pillar VI: Review BOP’s women on board and leadership gender practices to ensure that gender-related concerns are adequately addressed in the bank’s governance and policies.

ii) Climate Risk Component:
• Pillar IV: Assess BOP’s loan portfolio for potential climate-related risks and help develop a methodology to incorporate the appropriate risk appetite and governance framework into the Bank’s overall risk management system.

The Project aims to improve the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance of the Bank of Palestine (BoP) by building the capacity of its staff in ESG practices, and in climate-related risk assessment and management.

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

Estimated Total Budget: $245,000.00 (Project budget includes all project-funded activities)

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.

Bank of Palestine was one of the first banks to be established in Gaza in 1960. BoP is currently the largest national bank in WB&G operating as a universal bank with the largest network of 56 branches and offers a broad range of products and services to corporate, Small and Medium Enterprises, retail and micro customers. The Bank is listed on Palestine Securities Exchange with the main shareholder, the Shawa family, directly owning 25.7% of BoP’s capital. Other major shareholders include Palestine Investment Fund, Blakeney Investment Fund (UK-Based), Qais al-Ghanim Group (Kuwait) and IFC.

Private Actor 1 Private Actor 1 Role Private Actor 1 Sector Relation Private Actor 2 Private Actor 2 Role Private Actor 2 Sector
- - - - Bank of Palestine Client -

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.

No contacts available at the time of disclosure.

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