CanadaNews’ Reporter Notes

The Ronald Reagan & International Trade Center was the venue for the IFC (International Finance Corporation), a member of the World Bank Group. The IFC is celebrating their 10^th annual Global Private Equity Conference. The IFC threw the conference with help from EMPEA (the Emerging Markets Private Equity Association).

The conference is a two-day affair and the theme is “Creating Opportunities and Building Value” in emerging market investments. Judging from those that attended, the first day was a complete success.

Last year’s conference sold out at 600. This year, there has to be more – it’s been mentioned that private equity professionals has been, more and more, interested in the IFC’s conference.

Emerging markets private equity has steadily continued to raise over recent years to unprecedented funds for investment. Investors and private equality experts have turned their attention to creating opportunities and building value in emerging market investments. Generally, the investment in emerging markets focuses on growth capital, and that growth is carried out through expansion into new markets, sectors, initiatives and strategies. With this being said, the conference itself plans to examine the global economic impact of private equity. Areas like, how Asia is driving the growth of other markets, which frontier markets are attracting the most interest and why, and trends in fast growing sectors such as clean technology and infrastructure.

During the break-out section of the first day, I sat in on the Regional Africa discussion. The section was moderated by Ralph Keitel, Senior Investment Officer, International Finance Corporation. The panel consisted of:

· Richard Akwei, Africa/Middle East Investment Manager, The Rohatyn Group

· Thomas Gibian, CEO, Emerging Capital Partners

· Claudia Koch, Partner, Ethos

· Papa Ndiaye, CEO, AFIG Funds

On Wednesday, prior to the conference, IFC and Standard Chartered Bank announced that they will work together on the launch of the first-ever issuance of notes backed by loans to microfinance institutions in Africa and Asia.

IFC will invest $45 million in credit-linked notes to be issued by MILAA (Microfinance Institutional Loans for Asia and Africa). The MILAA is a special purpose vehicle that has been set up by Standard Chartered to facilitate microfinance lending. The great thing about this is the notes will be linked to a portfolio of loans that the bank has made to microfinance institutions in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. They will also enable the bank to extend additional credit to microfinance institutions that will in turn reach more unbanked people. This is aimed at people who do not have access to banking services. Another component is building an asset class for investors who are looking for more microfinance opportunities in emerging markets.

Lars Thunell, IFC Executive Vice President and CEO, believes that this innovative deal will help IFC and Standard Chartered aid people like never before.

If you are interested in learning more about the conference check out: www.globalpeconference.com.

About IFC
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, fosters sustainable economic growth in developing countries by financing private sector investment, mobilizing private capital in local and international financial markets, and providing advisory and risk mitigation services to businesses and governments. IFC’s vision is that people should have the opportunity to escape poverty and improve their lives. In FY07, IFC committed $8.2 billion and mobilized an additional $3.9 billion through syndications and structured finance for 299 investments in 69 developing countries. IFC also provided advisory services in 97 countries. For more information, visit www.ifc.org.

In terms of outreach, IFC is the leading international investor in microfinance institutions, working with more than 90 institutions in 57 countries. IFC is also among the top three global investors in terms of volume, with a cumulative committed portfolio of $790 million. To learn more about IFC and microfinance, visit www.ifc.org/ifcext/gfm.nsf/Content/Microfinance