Jeddah, January 31, 2024 – The Islamic Corporation for the Insurance of Investment and Export Credit (ICIEC), a multilateral credit and political risk insurer and a member of the IsDB Group and the African Development Bank, have signed a strategic risk sharing engagement aimed at fostering sustainable development in Côte d’Ivoire.

In this landmark collaboration, ICIEC has provided an insurance capacity of EUR 194 million, backstopping the EUR 400 million Partial Credit Guarantee (PCG) issued by the African Development Bank against the non-payment risk associated with a facility of EUR 533 million extended by Standard Chartered Bank (SCB), to the government of Côte d’Ivoire.

The facility will be used to finance a range of eligible environmental and social projects, including renewable energy, education, pollution prevention and control, terrestrial and aquatic biodiversity conservation, health infrastructure, as well as sustainable use of water and wastewater management, in accordance with Côte d’Ivoire’s Sustainable Framework.

African Development Bank’s partnership with ICIEC is pivotal to scaling up the Bank’s partial credit guarantee scheme to attract the needed financing by Standard Chartered. The Bank will retain a stake of EUR 206 million (51.5%) in the EUR 400 million PCG, while ICIEC will cover the remaining EUR 194 million. This arrangement not only optimizes the African Development Bank’s balance sheet by transferring a portion of the exposure to ICIEC, but also maintains a significant residual exposure, demonstrating a balanced risk-sharing approach.

The transaction marks a significant step by Côte d’Ivoire in enhancing its capacity to attract long-term, competitive financing dedicated to ESG projects. It is also a clear demonstration of the collaborative efforts of multilateral development institutions in supporting the sustainable development aspirations of their common member countries.

Oussama Kaissi, CEO of ICIEC, said: “We are proud to partner with the AfDB in this transformative initiative, which aligns with our mission to bolster sustainable and inclusive development in member states. By providing this insurance cover, we are not only supporting the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire in realizing its ambitious National Development Plan but also assisting in improving the country’s funding terms under challenging market conditions. This is a testament to our commitment to fostering economic resilience and progress in emerging markets. This is the first risk participation arrangement between both institutions, which lays the ground for more cooperation in common member states. Cooperation between Africa-focused risk mitigation providers to de-risk investments and mobilize financing for common member states in Africa is in line with the objectives of the Africa Co-Guarantee Platform, in which both ICIEC and the AfDB are founding participants.”

African Development Bank Vice President for Finance and Chief Financial Officer Hassatou N’Sele expressed her pride in the innovative solutions the Bank is providing. She described this as another strong example of collaboration with peer institutions to scale up lending in line with the G20 recommendations on capital adequacy.

“We are delighted with the closing of this risk participation with ICIEC, a member of the Africa Co-Guarantee Platform housed at the African Development Bank, which brings together Africa’s risk mitigation providers to better collaborate for the benefit of our respective member countries.” She added, “This loan facilitated by the AfDB and ICIEC will help Cote d’Ivoire make further significant progress towards contributing to the SDGs and improving the quality of life of the Ivorian people given the myriad of global and regional challenges Africa is currently facing.”