The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector arm of the World Bank Group, has announced that Banco de Desenvolvimento e Comrcio is the first issuing bank in Mozambique to join IFC’s Global Trade Finance Program.

The Global Trade Finance Program is a US$500mn programme to promote trade with emerging markets worldwide by supporting flows of goods and services to and from developing countries. Through the programme, IFC provides guarantee coverage of bank risk in emerging markets, allowing recipients to expand their trade finance transactions within an extensive network of countries and banks and to enhance their trade finance coverage.

Richard Ranken, IFC’s director of the Sub-Saharan Africa department, says, “We are pleased that BDC is the first Mozambican bank to join the programme. It will help the bank meet the financing needs of its corporate clients as well as those of small and medium enterprises – a vital engine of economic growth in Mozambique.”

Jyrki Koskelo, director of IFC’s Global Financial Markets, adds, “The Global Trade Finance Program will allow BDC to increase its trade finance business worldwide as well as improve its capacity to support the transactions of private sector companies, especially small and medium businesses.”