Access to Finance for Jobs and Growth MPA Phase 1 - Turkiye (WB-P511584)

Countries
  • Turkiye
Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.
Financial Institutions
  • World Bank (WB)
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 15, 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
Turkiye Vakiflar Bankasi T.A.O. (VakifBank)
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)
$ 867.83 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)
$ 1,735.65 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.
Bank Documents
Media Documents
Primary Source

Original disclosure @ WB website

Updated in EWS Oct 6, 2026

Disclosed by Bank Jul 28, 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.

According to the Bank’s website, the development objective is to increase access to finance by businesses and people in Turkiye, and enable new or better jobs.

The project aims to increase the number of people and businesses using financial services in Turkiye, with a particular focus on women, youth, and underserved regions, through targeted lending instruments. It will be supported by a EUR 750 million IBRD loan guarantee to VakifBank, enabling the bank to mobilize up to EUR 1.5 billion from international commercial lenders with a tenor of up to 10 years. The financing raised will be used by VakifBank to extend sub-loans to eligible micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) that contribute to women's economic participation and broader access to finance.

The project will support: (i) tailored finance for MSMEs and women entrepreneurs; (ii) sector-based financial incentives for firms that exceed female employment benchmarks; (iii) performance-based support for MSMEs that maintain or increase female and youth employment; and (iv) recovery lending for women-inclusive firms in earthquake-affected and underdeveloped regions. Eligible firms will be assessed using access to finance and gap criteria, with sub-loans structured to reward measurable commitments to equality, youth employment, and resilience. Through this approach, the project aims to promote growth and generate better employment opportunities, particularly for women and young people.

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 is categorized as FI-2 given that potential subprojects are anticipated to have limited adverse environmental or social risks or impacts that are mostly temporary, site-specific and reversible (such as air, soil, water and noise pollution and waste management, worker and community health and safety risks). Activities with potentially significant E&S risks and impacts such as large-scale land acquisition, significant physical/economic resettlement, and significant adverse impacts on critical habitats and cultural heritage, will be excluded from the proposed project.

People Affected By This Project
People Affected By This Project refers to the communities of people likely to be affected positively or negatively by a project.

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

A EUR 750 million IBRD loan guarantee, enabling the client to mobilize up to EUR 1.5 billion from international commercial lenders with a tenor of up to 10 years.

Total Project Cost: US$ 1,735.65 million
IBRD Guarantee: US$ 867.83 million

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.

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.

VakifBank is the second-largest bank in Turkey in terms of asset size, established with an initial capital of TL 50 million on January 11, 1954, and later started operating on April 13, 1954. Abdi Serdar Üstünsalih is CEO of the VakifBank.


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.

World Bank
Etkin Ozen - Senior Financial Sector Specialist
Varun Hallikeri - Senior Infrastructure Finance Specialist
Gunhild Berg - Lead Financial Sector Specialist

Borrower/Client/Recipient
Türkiye Vakiflar Bankasi T.A.O. (VakifBank)

Implementing Agencies
Türkiye Vakiflar Bankasi T.A.O. (VakifBank)

ACCESS TO INFORMATION

To submit an information request for project information, you will have to create an account to access the Access to Information request form. You can learn more about this process at: https://www.worldbank.org/en/access-to-information/request-submission

ACCOUNTABILITY MECHANISM OF THE WORLD BANK

The World Bank Inspection Panel is the independent complaint mechanism and fact-finding body for people who believe they are likely to be, or have been, adversely affected by a World Bank-financed project. If you submit a complaint to the Inspection Panel, they may investigate to assess whether the World Bank is following its own policies and procedures for preventing harm to people or the environment. You can contact the Inspection Panel or submit a complaint by emailing ipanel@worldbank.org. Information on how to file a complaint and a complaint request form are available at: https://www.inspectionpanel.org/how-to-file-complaint

How it works

How it works