ECOBANK TRANSNATIONAL INCORPORATED (FMO-54128)

Regions
  • Africa
Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.
Financial Institutions
  • Netherlands Development Finance Company (FMO)
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
Dec 20, 2017
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
Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI)
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.
Ring Fence
  • Small & Medium Enterprises
A financial intermediary is a commercial bank or financial institution that receives funds from a development bank, sometimes for a specific lending purpose. A "ring fence" is another name for this specific purpose. These funds are then used for lending by the financial intermediary to client companies or individuals.
Investment Amount (USD)
$ 50.00 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 @ FMO website

Updated in EWS May 20, 2021

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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.

Through this investment FMO supports small and medium-sized enterprises in some of the most underbanked countries in Africa. Although SMEs in these countries provide the majority of jobs, their access to finance remains limited. Through the syndicated facility, FMO is happy to bring new investors to these markets and help to spur economic growth where it is needed most. By helping ETI to support job growth across Africa, including in Least Developed Countries, and by crowding in partner investors, FMO aims to contribute to three of the Sustainable Development Goals: SDG 8 "Decent Work and Economic Growth", SDG 10 "Reduced Inequalities" and SDG 17 "Partnerships for the Goals".

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

ETI will use the facility to provide funding to a number of subsidiaries across its network of 36 African countries. In line with the Ecobank Group’s strategic development objectives, at least 75 per cent of the loan facility will be directed to SME’s across various sectors of the economy.

ETI is classified as an E&S Category A in accordance with FMO’s Sustainability Policy. The clients in the bank's portfolio are active in sectors which have potential significant and adverse environmental and social impacts, such as oil & gas, manufacturing and construction. Overall, the E&S risk profile of the bank's portfolio is relatively moderate, but due to the size of the bank, ETI is exposed to some high risk transactions. According to an analysis of ETI over the year 2016, of the total of 2,073 transactions that were screened and managed for E&S risk, 40 transactions were identified as high E&S risk transactions. ETI is an Equator Principles signatory. The bank has developed an adequate E&S framework that can serve as a solid base on which further improvement can be build. As part of the agreement with ETI, the bank will be investing in more E&S capacity, awareness and knowledge across the different layers within the organization. In addition, ETI is required to apply the EDFI Exclusion List, local E&S laws and regulations and the IFC Performance Standards Framework for certain identified projects.

 

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 Actor Relationship
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.

There is often limited information publicly available about what development banks are funding through financial intermediaries. In 2021, the Early Warning System partnered with Oxfam International to incorporate information on high-risk projects being funded by financial intermediaries receiving funding from the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the Dutch Development Bank (FMO).

The information listed below describes the relationship between the different private actors linked to high-risk sectors and subprojects of IFC and FMO's financial intermediary investments and/or the financial intermediary's parent companies made from 2017 through 2020, including any associated ring fences.

The database, however, does not explicitly or implicitly imply that IFC or FMO have material exposure to or are contractually or legally accountable to the sub-projects financed by their financial intermediaries or the financial intermediary's parent companies. It only shows a seemingly financial relationship among the different private actors, the financial intermediaries, and IFC or FMO.

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.

The Group employs over 17,000 people in 40 different countries in over 1,200 branches and offices. Ecobank is a full-service bank providing wholesale, retail, investment and transaction banking services and products to governments, financial institutions, multinationals, international organisations, medium, small and micro businesses and individuals. Additional information on Ecobank can be found at ecobank.com.

Private Actor 1 Private Actor 1 Role Private Actor 1 Sector Relation Private Actor 2 Private Actor 2 Role Private Actor 2 Sector
AngloGold Ashanti Ltd Parent Company Mining owns Geita Mine (Ashanti AngloGold) Client Mining
Ecobank Group Investor Finance invests in AngloGold Ashanti Ltd Parent Company Mining
Ecobank Group Investor Finance invests in Cocoa Touton Processing Co Parent Company Agriculture and Forestry
Ecobank Group Investor Finance invests in Geita Mine (Ashanti AngloGold) Client Mining
Ecobank Group Investor Finance invests in Ghana Cocoa Board(Ghana) Parent Company Agriculture and Forestry
Ecobank Group Investor Finance invests in Ihs Cote Divoire Sa Parent Company Infrastructure
Ecobank Group Investor Finance invests in La Societe pour le Dvlppement Parent Company Agriculture and Forestry
Ecobank Group Investor Finance invests in Nestoil PLC Parent Company Mining
Ecobank Group Investor Finance invests in Puma Energy Parent Company Mining
Ecobank Group Investor Finance invests in Puma Energy Corporate Facility 2018 Client Mining
Ecobank Group Investor Finance invests in Volta River Authority Parent Company Energy
Puma Energy Parent Company Mining owns Puma Energy Corporate Facility 2018 Client Mining

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 contact information provided at the time of disclosure. 

ACCOUNTABILITY MECHANISM OF FMO

Communities who believe they will be negatively affected by a project funded by the Dutch Development Bank (FMO) may be able to file a complaint with the Independent Complaints Mechanism, which is the joint independent accountability mechanism of the Dutch Development Bank (FMO) and the German Investment Corporation (KfW) . A complaint can be filed in writing, by email, post, or online. The complaint can be filed in English or any other language of the complainant. The Independent Complaints Mechanism is comprised of a three-member Independent Expert Panel and it can provide either problem-solving, compliance review or both, in either order. Additional information about this accountability mechanism, including a guide and template for filing a complaint, can be found at: https://www.fmo.nl/independent-complaints-mechanism

How it works

How it works