IFC Sustainability

The state of Gujarat in India, which enjoys more than 300 sunny days a year, has a long-term goal of making its capital, Gandhinagar, a solar-powered city. As a first step, Gujarat turned to IFC to help with an innovative 5 MW rooftop solar project to add power generating capacity, develop contractual models for further solar projects, and demonstrate the technical and economic feasibility of rooftop-based solar power.

 

Region: South Asia / Sector: Power / Key Topics: Climate Change

Publish Date: 3/26/13

IFC is working with the Yemen Education For Employment Foundation (YEFE) to increase employment among the country’s women and college-educated youth, two segments of society with higher than average unemployment rates. Using IFC’s Business Edge management training, YEFE prepares participants to start their own enterprises or get jobs that were pre-committed by sponsor companies.

 

Region: Middle East & North Africa / Sector: Manufacturing / Key Topics: Fragile States, SMEs, Women

Publish Date: 3/26/13

IFC works with Chindex, a leading private healthcare network in China, to promote women at all levels of its operations. Founded by two women, including its current CEO, Chindex is dedicated to empowering its female staff through leadership and training initiatives. IFC has provided $45 million in financing to support the company’s growth.

 

Region: East Asia & the Pacific / Sector: Healthcare / Key Topics: Women

Publish Date: 6/1/12

IFC is working with BLC Bank to improve access to finance and support the growth of women-owned businesses in Lebanon. With IFC support, BLC Bank launched the WE (Women’s Empowerment) Initiative, offering a range of services tailored to women-owned businesses.

 

Region: Middle East & North Africa / Sector: Financial Markets / Key Topics: Women, SMEs

Publish Date: 6/1/12

IFC works with Belcorp, a Peruvian door-to-door sales cosmetics company, to expand its business model focusing on women entrepreneurs. The company provides opportunities for self-employment and additional income to over one million women in 16 Latin American countries and generates $1.9 billion in revenues annually.

 

Region: Latin America & the Caribbean / Sector: Manufacturing / Key Topics: Women, Job Creation

Publish Date: 6/1/12

IFC is working with Bangladeshi poultry farmers and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to tackle low productivity and facilitate the adoption of waste to energy technologies. Focusing on the country’s most poultry intensive regions, IFC educates farmers and SMEs on best practices and builds capacity in disease management and bio-security.

 

Region: South Asia / Sector: Agribusiness, Power / Key Topics: Climate Change, Farmers, SMEs

Publish Date: 6/1/12

IFC is working with international mining company Rio Tinto in Guinea to ensure the participation of local businesses in its supply chain as it develops its Simandou iron ore project. This work builds on IFC's pilot program, "Guinea Linkages" in which local businesses that improved their capacity were awarded over $7 million in mining sector contracts.

 

Region: Sub-Saharan Africa / Sector: Extractives / Key Topics: Communities, SMEs, Women, Jobs, Fragile States

Publish Date: 6/1/12

Belarus has a vibrant food industry currently characterized by excess production and processing capacity. At the same time, only a small number of the 800 food processing companies have internationally compliant food safety management systems in place. If brought in line with international food safety and quality standards, the Belarusian food industry could experience significant export market growth. IFC is working with Belarusian food producers to help them adopt better food safety procedures and standards and increase their competitiveness. REGION: Europe & Central Asia / SECTOR: Agribusiness / KEY TOPICS: Food

Publish Date: 6/1/12

IFC is working with SOFIHDES, a private development finance corporation, to provide Business Edge management training to entrepreneurs and SME owners in Haiti. By partnering with SOFIHDES, IFC has been able to develop a market for small business management training and help more than 2,700 SME owners rebuild their businesses following the 2010 earthquake.

 

Region: Latin America & the Caribbean / Key Topics: Fragile States, Job Creation, SMEs, Women

Publish Date: 6/1/12

IFC has a strong relationship with Ecom through its Investment and Advisory Services. IFC and Ecom worked together in Central America to strengthen farmers' coffee-growing practices and now expand the success of the program in other coffee-producing countries around the world.

 

Regions: Latin America & the Caribbean, East Asia & the Pacific / Sector: Agribusiness / Key Topics: EST Standards

Publish Date: 6/1/12

IFC works with small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and farmers in the Nepalese poultry sector to strengthen their technical skills, increase profitability, and expand access to markets. Through building capacity of three local poultry companies and 3,000 poultry farmers, IFC addresses industry-wide challenges, such as lack of veterinarian skills and bio-security standards, low production efficiency, and limited farm management know-how.

 

Region: South Asia / Sector: Agribusiness / Key Topics: Farmers, SMEs

Publish Date: 6/1/12

Following the 2008 devastating earthquake in western China, IFC initiated an Emergency Assistance Program to enhance Bank of Deyang's capacity to lend to SMEs and enable it to support women-owned SMEs in the earthquake-affected areas, through both its Investment and Advisory Services.

 

Region: East Asia & the Pacific / Sector: Financial Markets / Key Topics: Women

Publish Date: 6/1/12

IFC chemicals and fertilizers clients include a diverse range of local companies as well as multinationals and cover a wide range of needs. For instance, we have been working closely with Kuybyhev Azot (KuAz), one of Russia's top chemical and fertilizer producers, to offer integrated investment and advisory services.

 

Region: Europe & Central Asia / Sector: Manufacturing / Key Topics: Climate Change

Publish Date: 6/1/12

Thanks to the online SME Toolkit program — provided by IFC in partnership with Sri Lankan telecommunications company Dialog — Leelawathi Jayawardana, an entrepreneur of a coastal town of Rathgama, learned about best management practices and how to grow and diversify her business. "IFC gave me the motivation, the tools, and the confidence to become a successful business woman," Jayawardana says. REGION: South Asia / KEY TOPICS: Women, SMEs

Publish Date: 6/1/12

IFC worked with Turbina IPD, a Bosnian wind-turbine manufacturer, to improve company's corporate governance practices and facilitate access to capital. More specifically, IFC helped with corporate restructuring by developing bylaws, a corporate governance code, a web-page for investors, and an initial-public-offering prospectus. REGION: Europe & Central Asia / SECTOR: Power, Manufacturing / KEY TOPICS: Climate Change, Fragile States

Publish Date: 6/1/12

IFC and BBC jointly aired a new radio program to inspire entrepreneurship, educate farmers and provide practical business advice in Afghanistan. This initiative has the largest rural listenership of any media program in the country — and sets a new standard for the use of mass media to educate communities constrained by illiteracy and trapped in conflict. REGION: Middle East & North Africa / SECTOR: Agribusiness / KEY TOPICS: Farmers, Fragile States

Publish Date: 6/1/12

IFC is working with Russia's industrial sector to increase investments in resource efficiency technologies that reduce both costs and pollution. So far, IFC has worked with 58 entities and has facilitated $206 million in resource efficiency investments, allowing companies to mitigate environmental damage, increase profits, become more competitive, and attract more capital.

 

Region: Europe & Central Asia / Sector: Manufacturing, Infrastructure / Key Topics: Climate Change

Publish Date: 6/1/12

IFC is working with eight olive oil companies – representing the majority of the sector in the West Bank and Gaza – to develop supply chains, improve quality, and increase exports. IFC is advising on how to access international markets, obtain financing, find ways to use byproducts from olive oil processing, and reduce negative environmental impacts.

 

Region: Middle East & North Africa / Sector: Agribusiness / Key Topics: Farmers, SMEs, Climate Change, Fragile States

Publish Date: 6/1/12

Ukraine has the potential to become a large exporter of dairy, meat, fruits, and vegetables, but exports to the EU remain extremely limited, primarily due to food safety concerns. IFC is working with Ukrainian food producers to adopt better food safety procedures and standards and increase their competitiveness.

 

Region: Europe & Central Asia / Sector: Agribusiness / Key Topics: Food Safety

Publish Date: 6/1/12

IFC is working with local governments in Peru to invest royalties from extractive industries in projects that benefit local communities. More specifically, IFC aims to strengthen the investment capacity of 30 municipalities in eight extractive regions, benefiting 250,000 inhabitants.

 

Region: Latin America & the Caribbean / Sector: Extractives / Key Topics: Local Communities

Publish Date: 6/1/12