IFC steps up African investments Published by: Andrew Mizner at 15/03/2021 The World Bank’s private sector development investor has backed multiple projects in the SME sector... The World Bank’s private sector development investor has backed multiple projects in the SME sector across Africa. The International Finance Corporation (IFC), part of the World Bank Group, has made investments in a range of organisations across Africa, aiming to stimulate progress in the small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) and start-up sectors. IFC has backed Savannah Fund, which provides seed funding to start-ups in Sub-Saharan Africa, with a particular focus on female entrepreneurs. Savannah’s fund raising generated a total of USD 25 million, with USD 3 million coming from IFC and a further USD 500,000 from the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative (We-Fi), which is also part of the World Bank Group. This will initially go to businesses in Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa, with further investments in Rwanda, Ethiopia, Uganda, Ivory Coast and Ghana all possibilities.