The International Finance Corporation, an institution of the World Bank, wants to increase the volume of financing in Portuguese-speaking countries, as part of the institution's commitment to projects on the continent, said the vice-president of the institution.

In an interview with Lusa, Sérgio Pimenta explained that "Africa is a priority for the International Finance Corporation (IFC), particularly in Portuguese-speaking countries, where there is still a small client portfolio".

Sérgio Pimenta attended the summit of the Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries (CPLP), which took place last week in São Tomé and Príncipe, to talk to partners and promote the organization, which only works with the private sector, unlike the World Bank, which supports public projects.

IFC already had an office in Mozambique, opened an office in Angola four years ago and has had a new liaison point in Cape Verde since the beginning of the year.

"In recent years, we have invested and mobilized more than four billion dollars (3.7 billion euros) in Portuguese-speaking countries in Africa, and to that we can add almost one billion dollars (920 million euros) in short-term lines," he explained.

Most of the projects financed are in Mozambique and, to a lesser extent, Angola, "but this year, for example, we made our first long-term investments in Cape Verde and I'm very excited to see that, in both São Tomé and Príncipe and Guinea-Bissau, we now have opportunities that I think will materialize in the coming months," said Sérgio Pimenta.

"The International Finance Corporation is the institution of the World Bank Group that supports the development of the private sector, we are a legally separate entity, we have our own balance sheet, we raise our own financial resources on the market and we invest these financial resources in private sector companies in developing countries," he summarized, noting that the organization also provides support and advice to companies or governments on investment or management projects.

"In the fiscal year just ended, we did record financing in Africa, with more than 11 billion dollars (10.2 billion euros)," a figure "never reached before," he said, stressing that, in many cases, these projects are in smaller countries where this financing is decisive.

Companies with candidate projects or banks that need to complete loans to third parties can access the funding.

IFC also leverages partnerships with development institutions.

But Sérgio Pimenta stresses that one of the institution's main focuses is to identify weaknesses and look for financing solutions: "We see a problem, we see a development issue that hasn't been resolved and we say 'OK', how can we find a solution?".

An example of this was what was done during the pandemic, when the IFC supported the production of vaccines in African companies, within the framework of the priorities of international organizations for the continent.

"I'd rather invest in Africa than in another continent," said Sérgio Pimenta, who also praised the project for a continental free trade area.

This project "will completely change the business fabric of the continent", admitting that the project will "take some time", as is the case in other parts of the world.

"What I find interesting is that it's primarily a political project, but then it's also an economic project and it's a project that African companies are really subscribing to much more strongly than previously thought," he said.

In order for the free trade area to materialize, internal procedures, transport and logistics need to be resolved.

"This all needs to be simplified," he said, considering that African companies are increasingly investing in an "intra-African dimension". (Lusa)