Mizuho Bank and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) have teamed up to launch a US$1bn risk-sharing facility that aims to increase supplier and distributor access to supply chain finance in Asia Pacific markets.
Over the next three years, the IFC – the financing arm of the World Bank Group – will provide up to US$500mn in risk-sharing to support Mizuho’s supply chain finance portfolio, including payables finance, receivables financing and pre-shipment financing programmes.
The new facility will “help address persistent working capital constraints faced by suppliers and distributors – particularly SMEs – in Asia-Pacific markets”, the organisations said.
It will also strengthen “commercial linkages between multinational buyers, local suppliers and distributors in emerging markets”.
The agreement was signed during this year’s Sibos meeting in Miami.
Nathalie Louat, global director for trade and supply chain finance at IFC, said: “By partnering with established financial institutions like Mizuho, IFC is mobilising private-sector financing at scale, directing it toward the suppliers and distributors that anchor supply chains and sustain employment across Asia Pacific and beyond.
“This facility demonstrates how strategic risk-sharing between development finance and commercial banking can unlock capital that would otherwise not reach the businesses that need it most.”
The facility is part of the IFC’s Global Supply Chain Finance (GSCF) programme, which launched in 2022 and has since supported over US$3.8bn in supplier finance transactions, the IFC said.
In June, the IFC agreed a US$500mn risk-sharing facility with Santander under the programme, focused on expanding access to supply chain finance for suppliers in emerging markets.
Ken Masamoto, head of the global transaction banking unit at Mizuho, added: “Global supply chains depend on the strength and resilience of the suppliers and distributors that keep goods, services and trade moving.
“With IFC’s risk-sharing support, we can broaden our financing capacity and help more businesses in emerging markets access the working capital required to operate with confidence, respond to demand and grow sustainably.”
Louat previously told GTR that supply chain finance has become a significant growth area for the institution, following the GSCF launch.
Last year, the IFC announced it was increasing the limit of its GSCF programme from US$1bn to US$3bn.In April this year, Louat also warned that supply chain disruption caused by the conflict in the Middle East could contribute to an increase in trade finance needs among African countries.
