FIF - EaP WiB FW - Credo Bank WiB loan

Overview
Project Summary Document
Environmental and Social Documentation
Procurement
Complaints

Overview

Up to USD 4 million, local currency denominated, three year Women in Business (WIB) credit line to Credo Bank.

Project ID 54113

Status Repaying

Location

Georgia

Business Sector

Financial Institutions

Notice Type

Private

Project timeline

Exploratory
Passed Concept Review
Passed Structure Review
Passed Final Review
Board Approved
Signed
Implementing
Completed

Company Contact Information

Nana Tughushi
ntughushi@credo.ge
0322424242
https://credobank.ge/en/
R.Tabukashvili street 27, Tbilisi, Georgia

Project ID 54113

Status Repaying

Location

Georgia

Business Sector

Financial Institutions

Notice Type

Private

Environmental Category

Approval Date

29 Nov 2022

Disclosure date

06 Dec 2022

As per section 1.4.2 (iii) of the Directive on Access to Information: "For Projects approved by Bank management where the Board of Directors has delegated the approval authority, the PSD shall be disclosed at the start of the relevant no-objection notification period to a member country of the Bank in accordance with Article 13 (iii) of the Agreement Establishing the EBRD."

FIF - EaP WiB FW - Credo Bank WiB loan (Georgian) (PDF, 0.35MB)

Project description

Up to USD 4 million, local currency denominated, three year Women in Business (WIB) credit line to Credo Bank.

Project objectives

This will be the first WiB project between EBRD and Credo, therefore adding one more participant to WiB framework. Lending to women and women-led businesses has always been at the core of bank's business, more than a half (by number) and up to 45% (by volume) of Credo's loan book has a female gender tag. WiB will continue promoting women entrepreneurship and women participation in business by building or improving efficiency of respective entities through expertise and advisory services (ASB) provided under the framework. Credo will be the third bank and financial institution to join the programme in Georgia.

Transition impact

ETI Score:80

loan to Credo under EaP WiB Programme will support the Inclusive and Competitive transition qualities by promoting women's entrepreneurship and more broadly women's participation in the economy, and by alleviating gender gaps in "access to finance" and "employment and business."

Client information

CREDO BANK JSC

Credo Bank ("Credo", "the bank") is a commercial bank operating in Georgia catering financial needs of micro and small entities, and slowly penetrating into medium enterprises segment. Ranked the 5th largest in the Georgian banking sector and accounting for 3% of the banking assets, Credo is owned by social impact investors, Access Holding (51.2%), Proparco (15%), ResponsAbility (17%) and Triodos Doen (16.8%).

EBRD Finance Summary

USD 4,000,000.00

Total project cost

USD 4,000,000.00

Additionality

Financing Structure: EBRD offers local currency financing on terms not readily available in the market.

Standard setting: helping projects and clients achieve higher standards.

Client seeks/makes use of EBRD expertise on higher Equality of Opportunity/inclusive standards (e.g. adherence to labour standards which goes beyond the provisions set in EBRD Performance Requirements of Labour and Working Conditions of the environmental and social policy, development of comprehensive and institutional corporate social responsibility programmes).

Environmental & Social Summary

Categorised FI (ESP 2019). Credo Bank is a current client of EBRD and E&S performance to date in the context of existing projects has been good. Credo Bank has developed, and put into operation, a suite of policy and procedural documents including an Environmental and Social Performance Policy (including an E&S Exclusion List), a Code of Ethics and Business Conduct and two processes for receipt of grievances. Together, these and other internal systems, cover the EBRD Performance Requirements for Labour and Working Conditions, Health, Safety and Security as well as for Financial Intermediaries. Credo Bank should continue to provide annual E&S reporting to the Bank on the implementation of systems for E&S management and on compliance with the Bank's E&S requirements.

Technical Cooperation and Grant Financing

TC: The EaP WiB TC Programme ("Programme") includes two-linked components: (i) capacity building to PFIs to implement the Programme and a range of crosscutting activities in support of the Programme promotion and management; (ii) women-led SMEs access to know-how (Advice for Small Businesses). The Programme is supported by Sida (Sweden) with EUR 9.5 million, European Union contributing up to EUR 3.5 million, and EBRD Early Transition Countries Fund (ETCF) with up to EUR 0.9 million.

Company Contact Information

Nana Tughushi
ntughushi@credo.ge
0322424242
https://credobank.ge/en/
R.Tabukashvili street 27, Tbilisi, Georgia

PSD last updated

04 Feb 2023

Understanding transition

Further information regarding the EBRD’s approach to measuring transition impact is available here.

Business opportunities

For business opportunities or procurement, contact the client company.

For business opportunities with the EBRD (not related to procurement) contact:

Tel: +44 20 7338 7168
Email: projectenquiries@ebrd.com

For state-sector projects, visit EBRD Procurement:

Tel: +44 20 7338 6794
Email: procurement@ebrd.com

General enquiries

Specific enquiries can be made using the EBRD Enquiries form.

Environmental and Social Policy (ESP)

The ESP and its associated Environmental and Social Requirements (ESRs) set out the ways in which the EBRD implements its commitment to promoting “environmentally sound and sustainable development”. The ESP and the ESRs include specific provisions for clients to comply with the applicable requirements of national laws on public information and consultation, and to establish a grievance mechanism to receive and facilitate resolution of stakeholders’ concerns and grievances, in particular, about the environmental and social (E&S) performance of the client and the project. Proportionate to the nature and scale of a project’s environmental and social risks and impacts, the EBRD also requires its clients to disclose information, as appropriate, about the risks and impacts of projects or to undertake meaningful consultation with stakeholders and consider and respond to their feedback.

More information on the EBRD’s practices in this regard is set out in the ESP.

Integrity and compliance

The EBRD's Office of the Chief Compliance Officer (OCCO) promotes good governance and ensures that the highest standards of integrity are applied to all of the Bank's activities in accordance with international best practice. Integrity due diligence is conducted on all Bank clients to ensure that projects do not present unacceptable integrity or reputational risks to the Bank. The EBRD believes that identifying and resolving issues in the project assessment and approval stages is the most effective means of ensuring the integrity of Bank transactions. OCCO plays a key role in these protective efforts andhelps to monitor integrity risks in projects post-investment.

OCCO is further responsible for investigating allegations of fraud, corruption and misconduct in EBRD-financed projects. Anyone, either within or outside the Bank, who suspects fraud or corruption should submit a written report to the Chief Compliance Officer by email to compliance@ebrd.com. OCCO will follow-up all matters reported. It will review all matters reported. Reports can be made in any language of the Bank or of the Bank's countries of operation. The information provided must be made in good faith.

Access to Information Policy (AIP)

The AIP, which entered into force on 1 January 2025, sets out how the EBRD discloses information and consults with its stakeholders to promote better awareness and understanding of its strategies, policies and operations. Please visit the Access to Information Policy page to find out what information is available from the EBRD website.

Specific requests for information can be made using the EBRD enquiries form.

Independent Project Accountability Mechanism (IPAM)

If efforts to address environmental, social or public disclosure concerns with the Client or the Bank are unsuccessful (for example, through the client’s project-level grievance mechanism or through direct engagement with Bank management), individuals and organisations may seek to address their concerns through the EBRD’s Independent Project Accountability Mechanism (IPAM).

IPAM independently reviews project issues that are believed to have caused (or to be likely to cause) harm. The purpose of the mechanism is: to support dialogue between project stakeholders to resolve environmental, social and public disclosure issues; to determine whether the Bank has complied with its Environmental and Social Policy or the project-specific provisions of its Access to Information Policy; and where applicable, to address any existing non-compliance with these policies, while preventing future non-compliance by the Bank.

Please visit the Independent Project Accountability Mechanism webpage to find out more about IPAM and its mandate and how to submit a Request for review. Alternatively, contact IPAM by email at ipam@ebrd.com for guidance and more information on IPAM and how to submit a request.

Environmental and Social Documentation is not available for this project.

Selected procurement notices related to this project may be shown below. Further procurement opportunities related to this and other projects, if available, maybe be viewed in the EBRD Procurement Portal.

The EBRD's Environmental and Social Policy (ESP), Access to Information policy (AIP) and Project Accountability Policy (PAP) enable sound and sustainable development in its projects. The Independent Project Accountability Mechanism (IPAM) deals with complaints about environmental, social and disclosure matters related to the Bank’s investments.

No complaints about this project have been made so far.

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FIF - EaP WiB FW - Credo Bank WiB loan

Overview

Project timeline

Company Contact Information

Project description

Project objectives

Transition impact

Client information

EBRD Finance Summary

Total project cost

Additionality

Environmental & Social Summary

Technical Cooperation and Grant Financing

Company Contact Information

PSD last updated

Understanding transition

Business opportunities

General enquiries

Environmental and Social Policy (ESP)

Integrity and compliance

Access to Information Policy (AIP)

Independent Project Accountability Mechanism (IPAM)