Angola - Line of Credit to "Banco Poupanca e Credito (BPC) SA"

The project is for a 10-year government guaranteed line of credit (LOC) of up to USD 325 Million (mln) to support Banco de Poupança e Credito (BPC), which is the largest public bank and the second largest commercial bank in Angola by market share (23.4% of total customers). BPC operates in various sectors, the most predominant being agriculture, industry and provides services to SMEs, corporate institutional and individual clients. The project is part of the bank's initiatives to support the need to diversify the economies of its regional member countries. It will be the first support to the financial sector in Angola and will provide much needed liquidity to support government efforts to diversify the economy and reduce imports. The LOC facility provides an entry point opportunity to supporting the private sector actors in Angola and to strengthen a local bank in its efforts to deliver on the economic mandate. In addition, the transaction will ensure sustained support to underserved sectors and population on more appropriate terms. It will include an option to allocate up to USD 2 mln for technical assistance. The project is expected to contribute to financing part of BPC’s multi-sector pipeline made up of predominantly small and medium size enterprises (SMEs) that account for 94% of the total pipeline value. With this support, BPC will not only be able to support priority sectors in Angola, but also to diversify its funding base and strengthen its environmental and social systems as well as its best practices in terms of business management and policy.