[DR Congo] Rawbank receives $15 million loan from Africa Development Bank to finance capital needs

The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank has granted a $15 million loan to Congolese bank Rawbank, the country's largest commercial bank with 24 per cent market share and 300,000 customers. Under the private sector window of the African Development Bank, the line of credit granted to Rawbank has a maturity of seven years, two years of which are deferred.
In addition to the loan, a technical assistance grant will be used to establish training and capacity building programs for Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) developers for the benefit of Rawbank. This action will target women entrepreneurs.
Established in 2002 by the Rawji family established in Congo since 1922, Rawbank is a commercial bank that stands out today not only in the banking market of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), but also throughout the sub-region.
The bank, which has a total balance sheet of more than $ 1 billion and has approximately 300,000 customers, is the leader in its segment in the Congo, while being in the top 10 ranking of banks in Central Africa in 2016 by the Panafrican weekly Jeune Afrique .
Rawbank was also awarded by Moody's the B3 rating, at the same level as the sovereign rating granted to the DRC. The African Development Bank is doubly pleased with this first collaboration with Rawbank in that it will, first and foremost, help to support the private sector in the DRC, especially SMEs that will benefit 30% of the line. credit.
The loan is a source of satisfaction for the African Development Bank because it enables it to support a strong banking group with African capital and a willingness to support Congolese economic actors in their growth effort, despite a difficult business environment.
The $ 15 million line of credit should enable Rawbank to improve its long-term liquidity, diversify its funding base, strengthen its balance sheet and support the growth of its business portfolio.
In accordance with the five priorities of the Bank called High 5 , the loan will be primarily used to finance capital needs in the medium and long term of fifteen projects in the industrial, infrastructure, construction, hospitality, distribution and trade.
The intervention of the African Bank is all the more significant as it comes at a time when external financing and foreign direct investment have slowed down, because of the socio-political uncertainties weighing on the country.
In addition to significant support to the Congolese private sector, the loan will support projects in key sectors of the Congolese economy, creating thousands of jobs and supporting hundreds of Congolese SME entrepreneurs.
www.rawbank.cd
www.afdb.org