IFC and BNI Madagascar Partner to Expand Access to Finance for Smaller Businesses in Madagascar

Antananarivo, Madagascar, January 09, 2025 - IFC and BNI Madagascar today announced a partnership to expand access to local currency financing for smaller businesses in Madagascar, including women-led businesses, helping them grow and create jobs.

Under the partnership, IFC will provide BNI Madagascar, one of the country's largest financial service providers, with a $30 million equivalent loan in Malagasy Ariary for on-lending to micro-,small- and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), including to informal microentrepreneurs. At least 30 percent of the proceeds of the IFC loan is earmarked for women-led enterprises.

The formal financing gap for MSMEs in Madagascar is estimated at 24 percent of GDP, significantly higher than the sub-Saharan Africa average of 19 percent. The disparity for women-led MSMEs is particularly striking. Although women own an estimated 37 percent of MSMEs in Madagascar, they account for about 44 percent of the country's total MSME finance gap, according to IFC estimates.

"The local currency loan from IFC will enable BNI to foster the growth of local businesses and support financial inclusion as a key finance provider in Madagascar. With its dedicated MSME department and KRED brand, BNI Madagascar will significantly improve access to finance for its clients, including women entrepreneurs." said Alexandre Mey, CEO of BNI Madagascar.

"IFC's partnership with BNI Madagascar is supporting access to finance for businesses across the country, helping create jobs and strengthening economic activity," said Mehita Fanny, IFC's Country Manager for Madagascar. "IFC's investment, with a focus on women entrepreneurs, will help thousands more businesses and entrepreneurs to access the local currency capital they need to grow."

IFC's investment is supported by the International Development Agency Private Sector Window (IDA PSW) Blended Finance Facility, which will provide a pooled first loss guarantee for the investment, and the IDA PSW Local Currency Facility. It will be processed under IFC's MSME Finance Base of the Pyramid (BOP) Platform that supports lending by financial institutions to help small businesses in emerging markets recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and inter-related struggles.