Rawbank SL (IFC-49116)

Countries
  • Congo, Democratic Republic of
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
B
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."
Borrower
RAWBANK SA
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)
Loan
The categories of the bank investment: loan, grant, guarantee, technical assistance, advisory services, equity and fund.
Investment Amount (USD)
$ 300.00 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 Mar 16, 2025

Disclosed by Bank Nov 8, 2024

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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.

According to the Bank’s website, the proposed project consists of a senior loan of up to US$300 million with a tenor of up to 5 years (2-year grace) to Rawbank (“RB” or the “Bank”) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The proposed investment consists of: (i) an up to US$50 million loan for IFC’s own account, and (ii) up to US$250 million to be mobilized from B lenders/parallel loan on best effort basis. The purpose of the proposed IFC A Loan is to support the Bank’s lending to micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) including women owned MSMEs in DRC while the purpose of the B loan is to support the Bank’s lending program to corporates in key sectors provided that the eligible sub-loans to eligible sub-borrowers are not engaged in any activities on the IFC Exclusion list and are subject to the IFC environmental and social standards compliance.                                                  

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 project will support the Bank’s financing to SME & Strategic corporates. The Bank’s supported portfolio includes exposures to sectors such as services to mining, commerce, water & electricity, construction and transportation. As such, the portfolio supported under the project is expected to comprise business activities with limited adverse environmental and social risks or impacts that are few in number, generally site-specific, largely reversible and readily addressable through mitigation measures. As part of the project, the Bank will be required to screen eligible SMEs and Strategic Corporates against the IFC Exclusion List, national E&S laws and regulations in DRC and the IFC Performance Standards (applicable to the Strategic Corporates). The project will not support Coal related activities, mining activities and Higher Risk Transactions that may include: a) involuntary resettlement, b) risk of adverse impacts on Indigenous Peoples, c) significant risks to or impacts on environment, community health and safety, biodiversity, cultural heritage, or d) significant Occupational Health and Safety risks.
The main E&S risks and impacts of this project relate to the ability of the Bank to identify and manage the potential E&S risks and impacts associated with the lending activities to SMEs and Corporate Strategic, as well as the bank’s labor practices. The E&S risks and impacts associated with these financing activities are typically low to medium environmental and social risks such as waste management, pollution prevention, labor and working conditions and occupational health and safety, etc.

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

 The Project consists of a senior loan of up to US$300 million with a tenor of up to 5 years (2-year grace) to Rawbank to support the Bank’s lending to MSMEs including women owned MSMEs in DRC, a low-income country (LIC) and a fragile and conflict-affected situation (FCS) country by IDA (IDA-LIC and FCS).

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.

Rawbank is the largest bank in DRC, with a balance sheet of US$5.2 billion as of March 2024 and a market share of 29% based on total assets. The Bank is majority-owned by the Rawji family and operates exclusively in DRC. Rawbank is owned by: RawHolding, S.A. (94.2%), Minzoto Holding (5%), and Other Shareholders (0.8%). RawHolding S.A. Composition (with 20% each): (1) Mr. Mazhar Rawji, (2) Mr. Musthaque Rawji, (3) Mr. Murtaza Rawji, (4) Mr. Aslam Rawji, and (5) ZMR Holdings Ltd, held by Mr. Ali Rawji, Mr. Azhar Rawji, and Mr. Adnan Rawji.


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.

Point of contact: Laurence Feza

Title: Head of DFI

Telephone: +243996016300

Email: laurence.feza@rawbank.cd

Mailing Address: 12/66 crossing of avenues Katanga and Colonel Lukusa, Kinshasa, DRC

Website: rawbank.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

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