The International Finance Corporation (IFC) and Omni Bridgeway, the Dutch specialist in the recovery of non-performing loans, jointly disbursed $100 million to set a new investment vehicle aimed at the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.  

The new vehicle which will be managed by Dubai-based regional center of Omni Bridgeway will specifically help financial institutions in Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, Greece, Liban, and Pakistan recover their bad debts.

For the IFC, this initiative is not only aimed at helping financial institutions reduce the volume of their non-productive loans but also rehabilitate and reintegrate defaulters into the formal credit market.

"When banks have unresolved NPLs on their books, the flow of credit stalls, as does growth. In MENA, resolving NPLs and distressed assets is increasingly important to help drive growth and employment", said Manuel Reyes-Retana, regional industry director-financial institutions group, Middle East and North Africa, at the IFC.

By partnering with the IFC, Omni Bridgeway’s managers expect to penetrate new markets where non-performing loans are a real issue. For instance, at the period which ended on December 31, 2017, the volume of bad debts in Egyptian banks was 4.9% of their total loan portfolio.

Chamberline Moko