KEY POINTS

• IFC and Standard Chartered launched a $300m risk-sharing facility covering eight African countries, including Nigeria.
• The program should support about $1.9bn in trade finance over three years and benefit more than 500 suppliers.
• The initiative could indirectly reach over one million farmers through stronger value-chain linkages.

The International Finance Corporation and Standard Chartered Bank have launched a $300m risk-sharing facility to expand access to supply chain finance for businesses across eight African countries, including Nigeria. According to a statement from Standard Chartered on Wednesday, the program should support supply chain and trade finance transactions worth about $1.9bn over the next three years and benefit more than 500 suppliers, including small and medium-sized enterprises.

How the facility will work

The program will run in Cote d’Ivoire, Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania and Zambia, targeting sectors such as agriculture, healthcare and manufacturing. Essentially, the facility aims to help suppliers receive payments faster, which improves cash flow and lets businesses expand production, pay workers and invest in growth.

Under the arrangement, IFC, the private sector arm of the World Bank Group, will provide guarantees of up to $150m, starting with an initial commitment of $100m. Moreover, the guarantees will back transactions in both United States dollars and selected local currencies, while the structure covers up to $300m in supply chain and trade finance assets that Standard Chartered originates across Africa. In addition, the program will deploy tools such as payables finance, receivables discounting and pre-shipment finance to widen access to working capital for smaller businesses.

Targeting Africa’s financing gap

IFC Vice President for Products and Clients, Mohamed Gouled, said supply chain finance remains one of the fastest ways to tackle funding challenges in developing economies. “By partnering with Standard Chartered to support companies at the centre of strategic value chains, we can unlock much-needed working capital at scale for businesses across Africa, including smaller firms and farmers, making supply chains more competitive and boosting job creation,” he said. Furthermore, the statement projected that the initiative could indirectly benefit more than one million farmers through stronger value-chain linkages.

Similarly, Standard Chartered Africa Chief Executive Dalu Ajene said the partnership would strengthen supply chains and support sustainable expansion. “By expanding access to supply chain finance, we are helping African companies unlock liquidity, manage risk, and invest with confidence,” he said.

Meanwhile, the global supply chain finance market reached an estimated $2.7tn in 2025, an 8 percent rise from the previous year, yet access remains limited in many emerging economies because commercial lenders have traditionally focused on developed markets. Finally, the initiative marks IFC’s first project under its Global Supply Chain Finance Programme and the Africa Trade and Supply Chain Recovery Initiative, which the International Development Association Private Sector Window backs.