MICROCAPITAL STORY: International Finance Corporation (IFC) and Westpac Sponsor Workshop to Increase Microfinance to Women Entrepreneurs, Exim Bank and MI-BOSPO Attend

The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, and Westpac Banking Corporation, the fourth largest bank in Australia, are sponsoring a four-day workshop designed to encourage micro-lending to women business-owners in developing countries. International women bankers gathered in Sydney, Australia on October 2 to exchange global best practices on serving women entrepreneurs. Attendees included representatives from several of IFC’s client financial institutions: Exim Bank Limited (Tanzania), Access Bank (Nigeria), dfcu Limited (Uganda), Business Partners (South Africa), and MI-BOSPO (Bosnia).

Exim Bank Limited is a privately owned commercial bank. In December of 2006, it had USD 173 million in total assets* (pg 6), USD 158 million in liabilities, and USD 15 million in equity. Access Bank of Nigeria held USD 1.4 billion in total assets and USD 1.2 billion in total liabilities as of March 2006. dfcu Limited is a leading financial service provider in Uganda which reported USD 224 million in assets in 2006. Business Partners is an investment company which specializes in serving small and medium enterprises (SMEs). As of 2007, the South African company had USD 302 million in total assets and a return on assets of 8.2 percent. MI-BOSPO, a microfinance institution (MFI) that offers financial services to approximately 25,000 women entrepreneurs, has a gross loan portfolio of USD 28 million and received an “A” rating from Planet Rating in 2004.

Westpac launched the “Women in Business” program in 1999 and since that time has trained 35,000 bankers to deliver high-quality services to women and helped thousands of women to grow their businesses. They now focus their efforts primarily on banks in emerging markets that have few female customers. Westpac had USD 776 million in total assets in March of 2006. It is also noteworthy that it has been named the most sustainable bank (pg 70) in the world by the Dow Jones Sustainability Index for five years running.

IFC is part of the World Bank Group’s gender action plan, a USD 24 million global initiative that seeks to promote women’s rights and gender equality. In 2006, IFC received a rating of Aaa, which suggests the highest quality investment grade, with minimal credit risk, from Moody’s Investor Services, a private company that performs financial research on commercial and government institutions. That year, according to Moody’s, IFC had USD 28.49 billion in total assets, a return on assets (ROA) of 4.33 percent, and a return on equity (ROE) of 11.23 percent.

*Note: Financial information has been calculated in terms of USD. Assets of all five financial institutions mentioned are held in local currency.

Additional Resources:

International Finance Corporation (IFC) Press Release: “IFC and Westpac Sponsor Workshop to Help Boost Lending to Women Entrepreneurs”

International Finance Corporation (IFC)

World Bank Group

Westpac Banking Corporation

Westpac First Trust: General Purpose Financial Report

Westpac: Investor Update, November 2006 (pg 70)

Exim Bank Limited

Exim Bank: Annual Report and Financial Statement 2005

Access Bank

Access Bank: Balance Sheet