IFC gives Acleda a $110M loan boost
IFC gives Acleda a $110M loan boost
The International Finance Corporation, a member of the World Bank, and the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program (GAFSP) announced Thursday that they will provide Acleda Bank with a $110 million loan to finance rural and micro-businesses, especially agricultural enterprises.
The long-term loan will be funded by the IFC, which will contribute $40 million, $20 million from GAFSP, $30 million from Japan’s Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, and the remaining $20 million will come from the IFC’s Managed Co-Lending Portfolio Platform, according to an IFC statement.
“Access to long-term and affordable funding will help agribusinesses increase employment, improve export earnings and ensure food security for the Cambodian people,” Adeel Meer, IFC’s financial institutions group manager for East Asia and the Pacific, was quoted in the statement.
With this new fund infusion, Acleda says it will take its loan capacity to $250 million, servicing 60,000 agricultural enterprises through 2019.
“Extending financial services to micro borrowers and smaller businesses is a pillar of Acleda Bank Plc.’s growth and expansion strategy,” In Channy, president and group managing director at Acleda Bank said in the statement.
“We appreciate IFC’s support in mobilizing other international lenders to provide much-needed long-term funding for us to realize our strategy,” the Acleda CEO added.
Meanwhile, in a separate event yesterday, Oxfam came down hard on IFC for a lack of accountability when financing private equity firms, banks and other financial intermediaries.
Acleda was not mentioned in the Oxfam report.
