SLGP NDB_RSF (IFC-50627)

Countries
  • Sri Lanka
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
Dec 8, 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
NDB RSF
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)
$ 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 Dec 27, 2025

Disclosed by Bank Nov 3, 2025

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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.

The proposed project (which is subject to the approval of the Board of Directors of National Development Bank PLC (NDB or the Bank) (hereinafter referred to as the “Project”) consists of an unfunded Risk Sharing Facility (“RSF) of up to US$10 million Sri Lankan Rupee (LKR) equivalent maximum IFC risk amount, representing 50 percent of an up to US$20 million LKR equivalent of small and medium enterprises (“SME”) loan portfolio to be originated by NDB. The Project will support the Bank’s lending to SMEs, including agriculture SMEs (Agri-SMEs) and women-owned SMEs (WSMEs). The RSF is expected to have a facility life of up to 8 years inclusive of a ramp-up period of up to 3 years. The Project would be processed under IFC’s Small Loans Guarantee Program (“SLGP”), a programmatic approach to de-risking and scaling-up financing for SMEs in eligible countries.                                                 

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 entails an unfunded Risk Sharing Facility to support NDB to enhance its lending to small and medium enterprises (SMEs), particularly agriculture SMEs and women-owned SMEs. The top borrowers in the SME asset class are agri businesses, food processing industries, trading and export-oriented business (spices, seafood). These industry sectors in SME segment present medium-low Environmental & Social (E&S) risks and impacts. The typical E&S risks include labor and working conditions, supply chain risk related to labor, gender-based violence and harassment, and biodiversity (e.g., in the agribusiness segment), air emissions, waste management, and handling of hazardous materials, in the SME borrower’s operations.

Hence, the project is categorized as Category FI-2 in accordance with IFC’s Environmental and Social Sustainability Policy.

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

The proposed Project is an unfunded RSF on a 50:50 basis, between IFC and NDB, to support up to US$20 million equivalent local currency loans finance Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), with a particular focus on agricultural SMEs (Agri-SMEs) and women-owned SMEs (WSMEs). IFC’s maximum risk amount will be up to US$10 million (equivalent in LKR) in 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.

NDB is the sixth largest commercial bank in Sri Lanka. NDB has nationwide presence and at June 30, 2025, accounted for approximately 3.9 percent of sector assets, 4.9 percent of sector loans and 3.6 percent of sector deposits. Established in 1979 as a pioneering development bank, NDB evolved into a listed fully fledged commercial bank in 2005, offering a full suite of banking and capital market services through its subsidiaries namely, NDB capital, NDB securities, NDB investment Bank, NDB wealth.

As of June 30, 2025, Norfund, the Norwegian investment fund for developing countries, is the single largest shareholder of NDB, holding 9.95 percent shares of the Bank. Other shareholders with over 5.0 percent ownership include Employee’s Provident Fund (9.46 percent), Bank of Ceylon (7.91 percent), Richard Pieris And Co Ltd (6.18 percent), Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation Ltd – Life Fund (6.05 percent), and Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation Ltd – Life Fund (5.03 percent). NDB is listed on the Colombo Stock Exchange.


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.

National Development Bank
Azzam Ahamat
Vice President - Finance
+94 77 737 4000
azzam.ahamat@ndbbank.com
40, Nawam Mawatha, Colombo 2, Sri Lanka
Websitewww.ndbbank.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