ABSA AMSA Trade Finance II (IFC-47720)

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
Proposed
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
Jul 24, 2023
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
Absa Bank Limited, ArcelorMittal South Africa
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)
Guarantee
The categories of the bank investment: loan, grant, guarantee, technical assistance, advisory services, equity and fund.
Investment Amount (USD)
$ 76.00 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.
Project Cost (USD)
$ 152.00 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 Jul 4, 2023

Disclosed by Bank Jun 22, 2023

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 IFC, the proposed Project with Absa Bank Limited is a) an up to ZAR2bln (equivalent to US$112mln); and b) an up to USD40mln working capital support to eligible suppliers of a large manufacturing company.  The Project falls under the Global Supply Chain Finance (GSCF) Program, a supply chain finance program launched by the International Finance Corporation in December 2022. The GSCF supports open account trade in the emerging markets by providing funded or unfunded risk participation in partner banks’ facilities.The project is part of a crisis response initiative, through which IFC plays a countercyclical role when the markets experience the turbulence due to the negative economic impacts of the ongoing global food and energy crisis.  

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 IFC categorized the project as FI-2.

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

As stated by the IFC, Absa is a leading Pan-African financial services group offering banking, insurance and financial products and services to individuals, corporates and small and medium enterprises clients. Headquartered in Johannesburg, south Africa, it is the third largest commercial bank in South Africa with operations in Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, Mozambique, Uganda, Tanzania, Seychelles, and Zambia.  

According to Bloomberg, ArcelorMittal South Africa Limited is an integrated steel producer. The Company operates steel-producing plants throughout South Africa. ArcelorMittal produces flat products, long products, and rolled coil.

Private Actor 1 Private Actor 1 Role Private Actor 1 Sector Relation Private Actor 2 Private Actor 2 Role Private Actor 2 Sector
- - - - ArcelorMittal South Africa Ltd Undisclosed Industry and Trade

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.

General IFC Inquiries - IFC Communications:

Address: 2121 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington DC 20433
Telephone: +1 202-473-3800
Fax: +1 202-974-4384

Financial Intermediary - Absa Bank Ltd:

Bankie Sebothoma - Trade Finance and International Banking Specialist
Phone: +27 76 029 5822
Email: Bankie.Sebothoma@absa.africa
Address: 15 Alice Lane, Sandton, Gauteng, South Africa, 2196
Website: www.absa.africa

Beneficiary - ArcelorMittal South Africa:

Address: Delfos Boulevard, Vanderbijlpark
Phone: +27 (0) 16 889 9111
Fax: +27 (0) 16 889 2097
Website: https://www.arcelormittalsa.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