FCMB Secures $50m Credit Facility from IFC to Support Businesses

FCMB Group Plc during the weekend secured a $50 million or N20 billion loan from the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a subsidiary of the World Bank Group, to support businesses impacted by COVID-19 pandemic.

The loan was part of the $8 billion credit facility announced by the World Bank’s subsidiary in March to support businesses affected by the coronavirus pandemic.

According to the statement released by the global lender, the facility will help FCMB to “support hundreds of businesses with trade financing and working capital loans.”

The COVID-19 lockdown imposed by the Federal Government plunged business profitability and weighed on economic activities in Africa’s largest economy. Forcing several businesses to cut staff strength, reduce salary and in some cases shut down completely.

Therefore, the IFC said the loan was to provide enough liquidity for affected FCMB customers to remain “viable during and after COVID-19.”

This is coming a month after FCMB said it plans to restructure its loans following the surge in impairment charges to N3.9 billion or 61 percent in the first quarter.

FCMB is now the second Nigerian bank to secure a loan from the IFC after the Zenith Bank secured a $100 million credit facility from the same financial institution earlier in June.

Ebenezer Onyeagwu, the Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Zenith Bank explained that the facility will help the nation mitigate coronavirus negative impacts on the economy.

“IFC’s support is essential and will help us respond to challenges resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. It will allow us to support compelling export initiatives and trade financing for critical goods and materials, especially for the medical and pharmaceuticals sectors. Our partnership with IFC is strong and we are committed to its environmental, social, and governance (ESG) requirements,” he stated two weeks ago.