Senegalese-American fintech Wave has secured a €90 million syndicated loan from the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the investment arm of the World Bank, and other sources. The syndicated loan includes loans from Symbiotics, Blue Orchard, Lendable, responsAbility Investments, Finnfund and Norfund. This is IFC’s second investment in Wave, having participated in the company’s Series A funding round in September of last year in a $5 million co-investment with Partech Africa.

The loan will go to the startup’s Senegalese and Ivorian subsidiaries to help the company grow its customer base and expand its operations in the countries. Coura Sene, Wave’s managing director for the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA), in a statement said, “Access to digital financial services remains limited in the UEMOA, a region with only 24 percent of active mobile money accounts compared to 34 percent in East Africa in 2020. This investment from IFC and other lenders helps us offer a diversity of financial products, encouraging users to stay in the formal financial sector, deepening financial inclusion in the region.”

Supporting access to financial services for low-income, unbanked populations is a key priority for IFC. Its investment in Wave will not only promote inclusive finance, but will also contribute significantly to other advanced digital economy solutions in West Africa.

By AITN