The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group and the world’s largest global development institution focused on the private sector revealed yesterday that its investment and advisory projects in Africa hit a record 4 billion dollars (KES 336 billion) for the financial year of 2012.

Within the year IFC funded projects in infrastructure, health, education, small and medium businesses and agriculture. Funding towards infrastructure and mining projects in the African continent hit a record 1 billion dollars (KES 84 billion) that included a 5 million dollar (KES 420 million) investment in South Sudan for the first time.

Key infrastructure projects that IFC financed in the year were the Kenya Airways Rights Issue where it loaned 25 million dollars (KES 2.1 billion), the Kenya Uganda Railway through Rift Valley Railways with 164 million dollars (KES 13.7 billion), 2 million dollars (KES 168 million) into Pima Gas and 5 million dollars (KES 420 million) towards the harnessing of nickel in Tanzania. Through Equity Bank, IFC gave 100 million dollars (KES 8.4 billion) to support SME lending to women entrepreneurs in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, South Sudan and Rwanda.

IFC also provided more than $1 billion to SMEs across 16 African countries through partner banks such as Bank of Africa, Ecobank and DTB. In addition IFC launched a 37 million dollar (KES 3.1 billion) partnership with The MasterCard Foundation aiming to give more than 5 million Africans access to financial services.

IFC invested $327 in Sub-Saharan Agribusiness projects that included $7 million to a Kenyan firm – Vegpro Group – to develop a farm in Ghana.

Through IFC Advisory Services, the financing body supported farming, health, education services and renewable energy projects across 35 countries with 123 projects valued at 204 million dollars (KES 17.1 billion).