A Case Study of the International Finance Corporation in Nigeria :: Economics Business Case Study Essays

IFC Mission-To promote sustainable private sector investment in developingcountries.The World borders role, in my opinion, is to help improve the businessenvironment in the developing countries so that the private sector candrive growth.- Mr. Peter Woicke, executive Vice President of theWorld Bank Group (WBG) in charge of the International FinanceCorporation (IFC) - Lagos, August two hundred4.At the time Mr. Woicke was speaking, IFC involvement in Nigeria hadreached $200million in investment commitments, a figure quicklysurpassed in less than a year from that date (as at June 2005, IFCinvestment in Nigeria was to the tune of $290million). This was inspite of the fact that only five short years before (in 1999), IFC wasdoing practically no business in Nigeria and merely had a functional functional office in Lagos. Mr. Woicke went on to say- We have increasedour exposure since democracy returned from almost nothing to almost$800 million and an exposure at the IFC of about $200 millio n. We havemade a bigger bet to have the bank (WB) and the IFC work on Nigeriasproblems together. We were quite instrumental in advising thegovernment on reforms in the telecom sector. We have been pushing veryhard for privatization of other sectors.Clearly, the advent of democracy had re-ignited interest in Nigeria.The initiation of a reform schedule by the new government was alsoplaying a part in this renewed interest in Nigeria. Beyond financialcommitments however, IFC was beginning to cleft a great deal of otherservices towards developing the economic environment of business inNigeria. As Mr. Woicke put it- I actually cerebrate we should increaseour presence quite (in Nigeria) dramatically. We dont necessarilywant to lend tons of money to Nigeria, because Nigeria has lots ofresources. We can contribute in foothold of providing advice,transferring technology, providing technical know-how in social,environmental and corporate governance issuesIndeed, the nature of IFC operations globally and increasingly inNigeria were such that contribution was becoming greater in terms oftechnology, advice, social development, environmental assistance,corporate governance and ethical issues, and global competitivenessconcerns. IFC had begun to realize that their market, and indeed theirbusiness model had reached a pivotal turn wherein clients had begunto expect more than just project finance deals and long termsyndications.Governments were asking for help on private sector issues that wentfar beyond privatization or concession structuring. There had arisen acase for IFC involvement as much in the Economic as in the Social,Environmental, Technological, Global and indeed perhaps ultimately- policy-making Environment of Business.II. IFC- HISTORY AND EVOLUTIONThe International Finance Corporation (IFC) was founded in 1956 to