Stanbic IBTC Bank secures $90m lifeline from FMO

STANBIC IBTC Bank has secured a $90 million credit facility from the Financierings- Maatschappijvoor Ontwikkelingslanden N.V (FMO) of The Netherlands.

The purpose of the facility, which has been consummated, is to boost the financial institution’s on-lending capacity to small and medium sized companies for projects in the infrastructure sector like agriculture, oil and gas, power, ports, telecommunications companies, among others within Nigeria.

The facility, provided by FMO along with European Financing Partners (EFP) and DEG – Deutsche Investitions- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft mbH, will run for a term of five years.

The primary lender, FMO, is a Dutch development bank that was established in 1970 by the Dutch Government, commercial banks, the national employers’ association, labour unions, and private investors, in order to make investments in private sector projects within developing countries and emerging markets.

The secondary lender, DEG, is a subsidiary of KfW and one of the largest European development finance institutions.

For more than 50 years, DEG has been financing and structuring the investments of private companies in developing and emerging market countries.

The Chief Executive of Stanbic IBTC Bank, Yinka Sanni, said the transaction was a show of commitment by the lenders and the confidence they have in the Stanbic IBTC brand.

He further emphasized that the facility will enable the bank continue its SME sector growth efforts and move the economy forward.

FMO’s Chief Information Officer, Linda Broekhuizen, said: “This second facility to Stanbic IBTC Bank is further testimony to the long and good relationship between the Standard Bank Group and FMO.

Meanwhile, as part of commitments to  safeguarding depositors’ funds and mitigating risk, Stanbic IBTC Bank, has been awarded the coveted ISO/IEC 27001 Certification.

The certification follows an extensive and painstaking standardization process on information security by the bank.

According to the bank, the ISO/IEC 27001 is an internationally recognized best practice framework for an information security management system, which helps businesses to identify risks to important information while putting in place the appropriate controls to help reduce such risks.

The Strategic Delivery Director at British Standards Institution (BSI), Pietro Foschi, explained that the bank complied with the requirements of ISO/IEC 27001 certification, in the areas of development, operations and maintenance of the processes.