Liberia - Technical Assistance for Access Bank

The proposed project is an Equity investment of USD 0.9 million in the share capital of Access Bank Liberia (ABL) as well as a FAPA grant for USD 1 million for Technical Assistance (TA). Access Bank Liberia (ABL) will be established as a greenfield microfinance bank to provide financial services to the low-income population of Liberia. ABL will initially focus on serving the major urban and semi-urban areas. However, given the transportation challenges and the fragile political situation in Liberia, the branch roll-out plan for the first 5 years of operations will focus on Monrovia and the neighboring cities of Buchanan, Grand Bassa, Bong, and Nimba. Within 5 years, ABL is projected to have expanded to 12 branches; with a workforce of about 400 people, an active client base of around 27,000, and total assets of USD 38 million. This investment in a greenfield microfinance bank supports Liberia’s national development strategy and is well aligned to the joint interim country strategy of the Bank Group and World Bank, which emphasizes support toward improving the living conditions of the vulnerable population groups in Liberia. For the first 5 years of operation, ABL will benefit from a comprehensive TA and management program provided by LFS. The estimated total cost of the capacity-building program is USD 5.1 million. Through the Fund for African Private Sector Assistance (FAPA), the ADB will provide USD 1.0 million towards the cost of TA during ABL’s start-up phase. The Bank’s contribution will be used to support about 20-30% of the cost of training staff and setting up the management information systems (MIS) and will be linked to specific performance targets by the TA provider.