BOP Access Gh (IFC-49369)

Countries
  • Ghana
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
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."
Voting Date
Jun 30, 2024
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
ACCESS BANK (GHANA) 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)
Loan
The categories of the bank investment: loan, grant, guarantee, technical assistance, advisory services, equity and fund.
Investment Amount (USD)
$ 10.00 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)
$ 20.00 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 23, 2024

Disclosed by Bank May 31, 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 5-year senior unsecured loan of up to US$20 million in USD to Access Bank Ghana to support the provision of funding to Micro, Small, and Medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) that have been negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic in Ghana. The Project will include up to US$10 million on IFC’s own account and up to US$10 million in funded mobilization. Up to 30% of the aggregate loan’s proceeds will be earmarked to women and women-owned MSMEs, on a best-efforts basis. The Project is being processed under IFC’s Base of the Pyramid (“BOP”) Program to support the growth of the banks’ MSME portfolio and will benefit from up to US$130 million Pooled First Loss Guarantee (“PFLG”) on the BOP Program-level provided by International Development Agency IDA Private Sector Window Blended Finance Facility (“IDA-PSW BFF”).

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 proposed investment entails a senior unsecured loan of a size of US$20 million under the BOP program targeting MSMEs. The Bank’s current SME portfolio includes exposures to sectors such as commerce sector and contactors, agriculture, and construction and real estate. 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. 

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

The Project is a 5 year unsecured amortizing loan of up to US$20 million with a one year grace period, of which US$10 million is for IFC’s own account and US$10 million is a funded mobilization.

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.

Established in 2009 as a subsidiary of Access Holdings Plc (with its subsidiaries, the Group”) based in Nigeria, Access Ghana is one of the largest (4.4% of Group’s assets) and the second most profitable subsidiary, excluding Nigeria. The Bank has 54 branches and over 3000 agents offering banking services to over 1.82 million customers in Ghana.

Access Ghana is listed on the Ghana Stock Exchange and has a stated capital of GHS 400 million (USD 33.3 million equivalent). The majority shareholder is Access Holdings Plc, a non-operational financial holding company, with 93.4% of shares. The Top 20 shareholders hold 99.40% of the Bank, with the remaining 0.60%% held by numerous shareholders.


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.

Access Bank Ghana
Mr. Olumide Olatunji
Regional Managing Director
+233 (0) 302661541
Olumide.olatunji@accessbankplc.com
PO Box GP 353, Accra, Ghana
www.accessbankplc.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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How it works