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International Finance Corporation
The International Finance Corporation (IFC) is an international financial institution headquartered in Washington, D.C., and a member of the World Bank Group. Established in 1956 as the private-sector arm of the World Bank Group, the IFC provides investment, advisory, and asset-management services to support private-sector development in developing countries. Its goal is to help people achieve better living standards by mobilizing financial resources for private enterprises.
The World Bank and International Monetary Fund were designed by delegates at the Bretton Woods conference in 1944. The World Bank, then consisting of only the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, became operational in 1946. Robert L. Garner joined the World Bank in 1947 as a senior executive and expressed his view that private business could play an important role in international development. In 1950, Garner and his colleagues proposed establishing a new institution for the purpose of making private investments in the less developed countries served by the World Bank. The U.S. government encouraged the idea of an international corporation working in tandem with the World Bank to invest in private enterprises without accepting guarantees from governments, without managing those enterprises, and by collaborating with third party investors. When describing the IFC in 1955, World Bank President Eugene R. Black said that the IFC would only invest in private firms, rather than make loans to governments, and it would not manage the projects in which it invests.
The concept was nonetheless controversial in the US, where some business interests were uncomfortable with the public ownership of private firms. Nonetheless, in 1956, the International Finance Corporation became operational under the leadership of Garner. It initially had 12 staff members and $100 million (equivalent to $1157 million in 2024) in capital. The corporation made its inaugural investment in 1957 by making a $2 million (equivalent to $22 million in 2024) loan to a Brazil-based affiliate of Siemens & Halske (now Siemens AG).
In 2007, IFC bought 18% stake in the Indian Financial firm, Angel Broking. In December 2015, IFC supported Greek banks with 150 million euros by buying shares in four of them: Alpha Bank (60 million), Eurobank (50 million), Piraeus Bank (20 million) and National Bank of Greece (20 million).
The International Finance Corporation (IFC) has partnered with Mohinani Group to support plastic recycling efforts in Ghana and Nigeria. IFC will provide a $37 million loan to Mohinani Group’s subsidiaries, Polytank Ghana Limited and Sonnex Packaging Nigeria, to establish PET recycling plants in both countries. Each plant will produce 15,000 tons of recycled PET (rPET) resins annually, reducing reliance on virgin plastics and lowering greenhouse gas emissions. The initiative is expected to create over 4,000 jobs and generate annual import savings of approximately $21 million per country. IFC will also offer advisory services to enhance environmental and social practices. This project aligns with IFC’s climate change and economic development strategies for Ghana and Nigeria, as well as the World Bank Group’s Climate Change Action Plan 2021-2025.
The IFC is owned and governed by its member countries but has its own executive leadership and staff that conduct its normal business operations. It is a corporation whose shareholders are member governments that provide paid-in capital and have the right to vote on its matters. Originally, it was more financially integrated with the World Bank Group, but later, the IFC was established separately and eventually became authorized to operate as a financially autonomous entity and make independent investment decisions.
The IFC is governed by its Board of Governors which meets annually and consists of one governor per member country (most often the country's finance minister or treasury secretary). Each member typically appoints one governor and also one alternate. Although corporate authority rests with the Board of Governors, the governors delegate most of their corporate powers and their authority over daily matters such as lending and business operations to the board of directors. The IFC's Board of Directors consists of 25 executive directors who meet regularly and work at the IFC's headquarters, and is chaired by the President of the World Bank Group. The executive directors collectively represent all 186 member countries. When the IFC's Board of Directors votes on matters brought before it, each executive director's vote is weighted according to the total share capital of the member countries represented by that director.
IFC is currently led by Makhtar Diop who was appointed as the institution's Managing Director and Executive Vice President in February 2021. Prior to this appointment, he was the World Bank's Vice President for Infrastructure, where he led the Bank's global efforts to build sustainable infrastructure in developing and emerging economies.
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International Finance Corporation
The International Finance Corporation (IFC) is an international financial institution headquartered in Washington, D.C., and a member of the World Bank Group. Established in 1956 as the private-sector arm of the World Bank Group, the IFC provides investment, advisory, and asset-management services to support private-sector development in developing countries. Its goal is to help people achieve better living standards by mobilizing financial resources for private enterprises.
The World Bank and International Monetary Fund were designed by delegates at the Bretton Woods conference in 1944. The World Bank, then consisting of only the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, became operational in 1946. Robert L. Garner joined the World Bank in 1947 as a senior executive and expressed his view that private business could play an important role in international development. In 1950, Garner and his colleagues proposed establishing a new institution for the purpose of making private investments in the less developed countries served by the World Bank. The U.S. government encouraged the idea of an international corporation working in tandem with the World Bank to invest in private enterprises without accepting guarantees from governments, without managing those enterprises, and by collaborating with third party investors. When describing the IFC in 1955, World Bank President Eugene R. Black said that the IFC would only invest in private firms, rather than make loans to governments, and it would not manage the projects in which it invests.
The concept was nonetheless controversial in the US, where some business interests were uncomfortable with the public ownership of private firms. Nonetheless, in 1956, the International Finance Corporation became operational under the leadership of Garner. It initially had 12 staff members and $100 million (equivalent to $1157 million in 2024) in capital. The corporation made its inaugural investment in 1957 by making a $2 million (equivalent to $22 million in 2024) loan to a Brazil-based affiliate of Siemens & Halske (now Siemens AG).
In 2007, IFC bought 18% stake in the Indian Financial firm, Angel Broking. In December 2015, IFC supported Greek banks with 150 million euros by buying shares in four of them: Alpha Bank (60 million), Eurobank (50 million), Piraeus Bank (20 million) and National Bank of Greece (20 million).
The International Finance Corporation (IFC) has partnered with Mohinani Group to support plastic recycling efforts in Ghana and Nigeria. IFC will provide a $37 million loan to Mohinani Group’s subsidiaries, Polytank Ghana Limited and Sonnex Packaging Nigeria, to establish PET recycling plants in both countries. Each plant will produce 15,000 tons of recycled PET (rPET) resins annually, reducing reliance on virgin plastics and lowering greenhouse gas emissions. The initiative is expected to create over 4,000 jobs and generate annual import savings of approximately $21 million per country. IFC will also offer advisory services to enhance environmental and social practices. This project aligns with IFC’s climate change and economic development strategies for Ghana and Nigeria, as well as the World Bank Group’s Climate Change Action Plan 2021-2025.
The IFC is owned and governed by its member countries but has its own executive leadership and staff that conduct its normal business operations. It is a corporation whose shareholders are member governments that provide paid-in capital and have the right to vote on its matters. Originally, it was more financially integrated with the World Bank Group, but later, the IFC was established separately and eventually became authorized to operate as a financially autonomous entity and make independent investment decisions.
The IFC is governed by its Board of Governors which meets annually and consists of one governor per member country (most often the country's finance minister or treasury secretary). Each member typically appoints one governor and also one alternate. Although corporate authority rests with the Board of Governors, the governors delegate most of their corporate powers and their authority over daily matters such as lending and business operations to the board of directors. The IFC's Board of Directors consists of 25 executive directors who meet regularly and work at the IFC's headquarters, and is chaired by the President of the World Bank Group. The executive directors collectively represent all 186 member countries. When the IFC's Board of Directors votes on matters brought before it, each executive director's vote is weighted according to the total share capital of the member countries represented by that director.
IFC is currently led by Makhtar Diop who was appointed as the institution's Managing Director and Executive Vice President in February 2021. Prior to this appointment, he was the World Bank's Vice President for Infrastructure, where he led the Bank's global efforts to build sustainable infrastructure in developing and emerging economies.
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