Project Detail - BANCO COMERCIAL E DE INVESTIMENTOS - FMO

Who is our customer?

Incorporated in 1996, Banco Comercial e de Investimentos (“BCI”) is the largest bank in Mozambique. The bank provides a wide range of corporate, retail and commercial banking services to >1.5mln clients through a network of over 193 branches and outlets. The main shareholders are Portuguese banks Caixa Geral de Depositos (CGD) and Banco Portugues de Investimento (BPI).

What is our funding objective?

The funds will be used to finance BCI's pipeline of infrastructure projects which are in need of long-term USD funding, which is very scarce at the moment. These projects have strong linkages to other economic sectors, therefore boosting employment creation. Moreover, our facility improves the bank’s maturity profile.

Why do we fund this investment?

The proposed transaction is aligned with FMO’s mandate to support strong institutions in difficult operating environments, as remains the case in present Mozambique. This joint PROPARCO/FMO investment will give a strong signal of confidence in one of the sector’s most robust and systemic banks which will help BCI weathering the current challenges. FMO maintains an active foothold in a country which for many IFIs/DFIs remains closed for business.

What is the Environmental and Social categorization rationale?

The bank’s exposure to potential high E&S risk sectors represents more than 20% of the portfolio, thus BCI is categorized as FI-A. BCI has put efforts in developing and implementing an E&S risk management approach over the last years. We will further support BCI strengthening its E&S management via an Environmental and Social Action Plan.