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The International Finance Corporation, the World Bank Group’s private sector arm, is weighing a senior loan of up to $100 million to support Coris Holding’s push into Cabo Verde’s banking market, a move that would deepen the West African group’s cross border footprint under Burkinabe financier Idrissa Nassa.
The proposed financing, still subject to IFC board approval, is designed to help Coris fund its acquisition of a 59.81% stake in Banco Comercial do Atlântico, known as BCA, from Portugal’s state owned lender Caixa Geral de Depósitos. Coris would also have the option to buy additional minority shares on the open market, widening its control over one of Cabo Verde’s most important financial institutions.
Nassa, the founder and owner of Coris, has spent the past decade turning the group into a regional banking force. Coris operates across about 10 West African countries and has built its reputation on retail banking and business lending in markets where access to credit remains a constraint for many firms. The Cabo Verde deal would extend that footprint into a small but strategically placed island economy with deep financial ties to Europe.
The IFC loan under consideration would have a five year maturity and could be denominated in U.S. dollars or euros. IFC would provide up to $40 million from its own account, while the remaining $60 million is expected to be mobilized from partner investors, a structure commonly used by development finance institutions to bring in additional lenders.
The commercial logic centers on expanding credit to small and medium sized enterprises in Cabo Verde. Coris has said it plans to increase lending to local businesses, and the IFC financing is positioned as support for that growth plan. Financing constraints for smaller firms are a recurring theme in island economies, where limited competition and narrow capital markets can push borrowing costs higher than businesses can easily absorb.
Coris first announced plans to acquire the Portuguese stake in BCA in March 2024, subject to regulatory approvals. The group later said it had finalized the purchase of that stake, putting the transaction into a closing phase while funding discussions continued.
A successful IFC backing would carry more than just money. It would signal institutional confidence in Nassa’s strategy of building a West African banking group with reach beyond the region’s largest markets, while reinforcing a broader trend of African controlled financial institutions expanding through cross border acquisitions.
IFC’s board is expected to decide on the proposed financing at a meeting scheduled for March 23, a step that will determine whether it joins the deal as a cornerstone lender.
