Tag: IFC

IFC and UNHCR initiative to boost private sector engagement for refugees and their host communities

Stuart Mitchell

The International Finance Corporation (IFC) and UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, today announced a joint initiative to create inclusive economic opportunities that will benefit refugees and their host communities. Among other goals, the initiative aims to mobilize private sector projects over the next five years to demonstrate the viability of investments in forced displacement contexts. Forced displacement is a growing crisis that is too large and complex for governments and humanitarian agencies to solve alone. By mid-2022, over 103 million people were forcibly displaced worldwide, with 74 per cent of…

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IFC Launches New Platform to Bolster Venture Capital Ecosystems in Africa, Middle East, Central Asia, and Pakistan

Stuart Mitchell

To help build the digital economy in Africa, Middle East, Central Asia, and Pakistan, IFC has launched a new $225 million platform to strengthen venture capital ecosystems and invest in early-stage companies addressing development challenges through technological innovations in climate, health care, education, agriculture, e-commerce, and other sectors. In 2021, these regions collectively received less than 2% of $643 billion of global venture capital funding. Access to capital has been exacerbated by a slowdown in global venture capital investment, the COVID-19 pandemic, the rise in food and supply chain costs,…

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IFC’s First Green Kangaroo Bond Raises 900 Million Australian Dollars for Climate-Friendly Projects

Stuart Mitchell

IFC issued its first green bond in the Australian dollar market, raising 900 million Australian dollars for climate-friendly projects. The landmark fixed-rate bond due to mature in May 2027 is the largest Australian dollar green bond issued by a multilateral development bank in 2022 and is also IFC’s largest Kangaroo transaction in over a decade. The proceeds of the bond will be earmarked for climate-smart projects, including clean energy, energy-efficient buildings, transport, green banking, agriculture, and climate adaptation in developing economies. The transaction attracted robust investor demand, garnering orderbooks of…

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World’s First Biodiversity Finance Guide Offers Investors Blueprint to Protect Nature

Stuart Mitchell

IFC has issued the world’s first guidance to help investors, financiers, companies, and governments identify investments that protect and rehabilitate biodiversity and ecosystems.  The Biodiversity Finance Reference Guide is the first market framework for biodiversity finance, a fast-growing domain of green finance that aims to support activities that conserve and restore biodiversity and ecosystem services. While the market has increasingly expressed interest in these types of investments, it has lacked criteria for eligible projects. IFC’s guide addresses this gap by providing an indicative list of investment projects, activities, and components…

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IFC Launches Financing Platform to Respond to Global Food Crisis and Build Resilient Food Systems

Stuart Mitchell

Responding to surging levels of food insecurity, IFC has launched a new, $6 billion financing facility to strengthen the private sector’s ability to respond to the crisis and help support food production. The war in Ukraine and an uneven global recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic have added to rising levels of hunger and malnourishment, which already have been worsened by climate change and increasingly severe weather events that are damaging harvests and reducing yields. A core part of the financing, which will be provided through the new Global Food Security…

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