MEASURINGUP
It is often said that what is measured gets done.
Measuring the results of IFC’s work — ​andevaluating our effectiveness — is fundamental
to our approach to development.

IFC ANNUAL REPORT 202089

Understanding Our
Development Impact
IFC has developed a comprehensive
system to guide operations to maximize
development impact and improve
our performance each year. Potential
projects are analyzed by an assessmentof anticipated development impact that
informs project selection and design.
This is deepened by regular monitoringof operational project results and,eventually, selective evaluation of
mature projects to identify impacts
achieved and lessons learned.

AIMM — ASSESSING EXPECTED DEVELOPMENTIMPACT AND MEASURING RESULTS
The Anticipated Impact Measurement and Monitoring(AIMM) system, launched in July 2017, is IFC’s
development impact rating system. Potential
projects are rated ex-ante and selected basedon their expected development outcomes. Thisapproach enables us to set ambitious yet achievabletargets, select projects with the greatest potential
for development impact, and optimize project design.
The AIMM system assesses a project’s outcomesas well as its effect on market creation. It looks at
how project beneficiaries — including employees,
customers, and suppliers — are affected. It also
examines broader effects on the economy andsociety. With the AIMM system, IFC can examine how
a project promotes objectives that contribute to thecreation of markets — by enhancing competitiveness,
resilience, integration, inclusiveness, andsustainability. Ultimately, the system helps IFC
maintain a line of sight from our intermediateobjectives to the World Bank Group’s twin goals andthe United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
The AIMM system incorporates country context in
its assessments and captures greater development
impact potential in projects that seek to address thewidest gaps in the most difficult environments.

AIMM Development
Gaps Visualization Tool
The AIMM Development Gaps Visualization
Tool provides information about cross-country
gap indicators used in AIMM assessments
to identify and benchmark the development
challenges IFC seeks to address through its
interventions across sectors. This information
can also inform analytics for Upstream,
strategy, and portfolio work streams across IFC.
Benchmarks and thresholds in the visualization
tool reflect those defined in AIMM sector
frameworks, following AIMM benchmarking
guidelines. The underlying data are updated
every year. The tool has a user-friendly interface
that allows users to customize visualization
options, including distribution, correlation,and trend charts, as well as filters to focus on
specific sector gaps and country groupings.

90 IFC ANNUAL REPORT 2020

WHAT EX-ANTE AIMM SCORES SAY ABOUT IFC’SDEVELOPMENT IMPACTAt the start of FY20, IFC established development
impact targets for projects committed in thefiscal year. For projects committed in FY20, thesetargets are: (1) an average ex-ante AIMM score of atleast 50; and (2) at least 15 percent of committed
projects rated “Very Strong” for market creation
potential. This is the second year in which IFC has
defined in quantitative terms our development
impact ambitions for new projects at the start of a
fiscal year.
In FY20, IFC committed 215 projects that were AIMMscored compared to 187 projects scored in FY19.
The average AIMM score for projects committed
during FY20 was 51, versus 50¹ in FY19, and justabove the annual target. Of the 215 projects, 18 wererated “Very Strong” for market creation potential,
corresponding to an 8 percent share of all AIMMscored projects. This percentage is well below the 15
percent ambition IFC set as a target. It is also below
the 12 percent share in FY19. A contributing factor
for this drop-off was the emergence of the COVID-19
crisis, which prompted IFC to invest heavily insupporting existing clients’ operations and affected
our ability to commit projects with “Very Strong”
market creation potential.
Nearly three in four (74 percent) AIMM-scoredprojects committed in FY20 received an AIMM ratingof “Good” compared to more than half (58 percent) in
FY19. Strong commitment performance for COVID-19
response projects during the last quarter of FY20
likely contributed to this increase in the share of
projects rated “Good.”
The tables on the next page summarize key outcomesfrom the second year of implementing the AIMM
system on an ex-ante basis.
While IFC doesn’t disclose individual project
AIMM scores, several notable AIMM-scoredprojects committed in FY20 underscored IFC’s
key contributions to addressing the most urgent
development challenges, including:by COVID-19, particularly those in the garment,
tourism, and construction sectors. At least
30 percent of this investment is expected to be
used by HKL and Amret to provide working capital
to women borrowers and women-owned and led
MSMEs in Cambodia.
• Sub-Saharan Africa continued to feature prominently
in IFC’s infrastructure portfolio, as demonstrated
by our investment in Kahone Solaire SA, Senegal.
This joint World Bank Group Project supports
Senegal’s efforts to increase private participationin the renewable energy sector. The Project wasdeveloped under the World Bank Group’s Scaling
Solar Program, which is designed to establish
competitive procurement modalities for utilityscale solar projects in the country, enhancing
market competitiveness and improving resilienceof the power system. The Project consists of thedesign, construction, interconnection, ownership,
and operation of two solar photovoltaic (PV) power
plants in Senegal, the 44 Megawatt peak (MWp)Kahone plant and the 35 MWp Touba plant.
• The Middle East and North Africa also remains
a priority region for IFC, as demonstrated by our
financing for Classic Fashion Apparel Industry Ltd.
Co., Jordan. IFC financing will help Classic Fashion
Apparel Industry ramp up its current production oftechnical garment and denim products and increase
exports by $100 million annually by the following
year. In the next five years, exports are expected
to double to $1 billion annually. By expanding its
garment production and doubling its revenue,
Classic Fashion Apparel Industry will contributeto about 25 percent of the growth of the garment
sector in Jordan.
• In South Asia, and through innovative financing
commitments delivered to NMB Bank Limited,
Nepal, we maintained our focus on environments
where the development challenges faced by theunderserved are most acute. This is IFC’s firstclimate-focused lending project in Nepal toincorporate the internationally recognized Green
Loan Principles. Until now, no bank in Nepal has
adopted the Green Loan Principles, and there areno established green building standards. Through• IFC played an important role in sustaining livelihoods
and preserving the private sector’s capacity tosupport the economic recovery from COVID-19,
as exemplified by our financial support to Hattha
Kaksekar Limited (HKL) and Amret Plc., Cambodia.
The unprecedented global shock triggered by
COVID-19 caused sharp decelerations in most of
Cambodia’s main engines of growth in the firstquarter of 2020. IFC financing will help HKL andAmret increase their working capital lending
programs to Cambodian micro, small, and medium
enterprises (MSMEs) that have been affected

1.	The FY19 Annual Report references an AIMM score average of 64, which translates to 50 under the new scoring methodology
instituted in FY20.

IFC ANNUAL REPORT 202091

Average AIMM Scores for Committed Projects in IDA/FCSCountries and for Blended Finance
AVERAGE AIMM SCORE
FY20

FY19

Committed projects in FCS countries

DESCRIPTION

55

54

Committed projects in FCS/LIC/IDA17 countries

57

55

Committed projects in IDA countries

54

53

Committed projects using blended finance55

57

Committed Projects: Ex-Ante AIMM Score by Region
FY20

BY REGION
Sub-Saharan Africa

FY19

NUMBER OF
PROJECTSSCOREDAIMM
SCORE
AVERAGERATED
VERY
STRONG
MARKET

NUMBER OF
AIMM
PROJECTSSCORESCORED AVERAGE

RATED
VERY
STRONG
MARKET

51

54

6 12%

44

52

8 18%

Latin America and the Caribbean

37

46

0

0%

38

45

4 11%

East Asia and the Pacific

36

52

2

6%

37

51

5 14%

Middle East and North Africa

17

54

2 12%

12

43

2 17%

Europe and Central Asia

32

44

3

9%

14

48

2 14%

South Asia

32

53

3

9%

34

53

0

Global

10

54

2 20%

8

55

2 25%

IFC

215

51

18

187

50

23 12%NUMBER OF
PROJECTSSCOREDAIMM
SCORE
AVERAGERATED
VERY
STRONG
MARKET

8%0%Committed Projects: Ex-Ante AIMM Score by Industry
FY20

FY19
RATED
VERY
STRONG
MARKET

NUMBER OF
PROJECTSSCOREDAIMM
SCORE
AVERAGE

Manufacturing, Agribusiness,and Services

71

51

3

4%

63

49

3

Financial Institution Group

84

50

7

8%

84

48

8 10%

Infrastructure and Natural
Resources

39

53

7 18%

19

53

4 21%

BY INDUSTRY

5%

Disruptive Technologies
and Funds2

30

48

2

7%

34

56

10 29%

IFC3

224

51

19

8%

200

52

25 13%

2.	This is a new department in FY20 that includes all sub-sectors from the predecessor, FY19 department (Telecom, Media, Technology,
and Venture Investing) except telecommunications infrastructure.
3.	The industry totals for FY19 and FY20 do not match regional totals because of joint ventures between industries. Each industry is
allocated a full project count for each joint venture in which it participates.

92 IFC ANNUAL REPORT 2020

this investment, IFC will extend long-term financing
to one of Nepal’s fast-growing commercial banks
to support green projects and SMEs. This will help
facilitate access to finance for SMEs and provide
long-tenor credit to climate finance projects.
• Finally, in sectors where the private sector has been
particularly reluctant to invest, IFC has deployed
concessional funds (blended finance) to help
demonstrate the viability of companies such as
exemplified by our work with Kaebauk Investimentu
no Finansas, Timor-Leste. This project is partof a holistic farming-to-financing approach that
addresses financing gaps in a critically importantsector. With the support of concessional funds fromthe IDA Private Sector Window, IFC is improving
productivity in agribusiness by developing asufficient flow of bankable agribusiness financing
opportunities, which will provide more and better
financial access to underserved farmers, and agrienterprises, including those owned by women.

LATEST AIMM DEVELOPMENTS IN FY20
IFC has now assessed over 1,400 investment projects
for their expected development impact and assigned
ex-ante — or expected — AIMM scores to each.
Notable developments in FY20 included the following:• IFC revised the AIMM scoring methodology to

improve the transparency of the rating scale
while preserving key features of the assessment
methodology and formula-based scoring system.
Scores reflected in this report are based on the newscoring scale, including scores from FY19 that havebeen re-scaled according to the new methodology.
• IFC provided technical assistance to a range ofimpact investors on the AIMM system, supporting
efforts to harmonize approaches to impact
measurement.
• IFC expanded the AIMM system’s capacity
to measure impact and better articulate thedevelopment results for its Advisory Services (AS)portfolio. The AIMM framework for AS began pilot
implementation in the first quarter of FY20, withan incremental rollout based on project size andcomplexity. IFC will review the AIMM4AS pilot,
solicit feedback and decide on the way forward
in FY21.
• Toward the end of the third quarter of FY20, IFC
introduced an adaptation of the AIMM frameworkto accommodate the deployment of new global
facilities to help our clients respond to the effects
from the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Finally, over the past fiscal year, we aligned ourportfolio monitoring methodology with the AIMM
system. IFC now uses portfolio AIMM scores tocomplement ex-ante AIMM scores in assessing
how well its projects are living up to their original
impact ambitions.

Job Creation
Based on a conservative estimate, IFC will contribute to the creation of 1.9 to 2.2 million jobs over the
lifetime of the projects it financed in FY20. These estimates include direct and indirect jobs generated
and are derived from projects accounting for about 80 percent of IFC’s FY20 investment commitments.4

Climate Change
IFC and the World Bank Group recognize climate change as an acute threat to global developmentthat increases instability and contributes to poverty, fragility, and migration. Climate action is also an
investment opportunity for the private sector. IFC has been in the climate business space since the1980s, when it began supporting simple project finance of renewables, and has since diversified intogreen buildings, green finance, climate-smart agribusiness, and other sectors. In FY20, committed
investment projects are expected to help our clients reduce annual greenhouse gas emissions by
8.1 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent.

4. Employment estimates are computed for individual projects using IFC’s economic impact assessment framework. The frameworkcomprises sector-specific models and a variety of assumptions across countries and sectors. For financial intermediaries, the estimate
includes on-lending of IFC funds only. Client banks’ portfolios grow more than the IFC funding alone, partly because IFC’s contribution
catalyzes additional funding and partly because the growth is contractually agreed with IFC. This additional expansion, which is hard
to attribute precisely, could represent the creation of several million jobs.

IFC ANNUAL REPORT 2020

93

WHAT PORTFOLIO RESULTS SAY ABOUT HOW
IFC IS MANAGING ITS PORTFOLIOAt the end of FY20, IFC had 2,969 active investment
projects in its portfolio. Because most of theseprojects pre-dated AIMM scoring, IFC backfilled
AIMM scores on a representative sample of IFC’s
investment portfolio. The portfolio AIMM score
for FY20 provides several broad insights into the
trajectory of IFC’s impact delivery:• The average portfolio AIMM score for FY20 was 44.

In comparison, the ex-ante AIMM score assigned tothese same projects was also 44, suggesting that at
the portfolio level, what IFC expected to deliver withrespect to development outcomes appears to havebeen delivered during project implementation.

• When compared to the ex-ante average of 51 for

AIMM-scored projects committed in FY20, the FY20
portfolio AIMM score average of 44 as well as theex-ante AIMM score average for projects approved
prior to the introduction of the AIMM framework (40)suggest that IFC’s impact ambitions have increased.
This is consistent with IFC’s current objectiveof “creating markets” where the premium is on
accelerating the conditions for private sector-led
development.
• Between FY19 and FY20, the portfolio AIMM scoreaverage increased from 42 to 44. This increase wasdue entirely to FY19 projects (and their higher scoresas described above) entering the portfolio in FY20.

Investment Services AIMM Score by Industry
FY20

FY19

AIMM SCOREAVERAGERATED
VERY STRONG
MARKET

AIMM SCOREAVERAGE

Manufacturing, Agribusiness, and Services

41

3%

38

3%

Financial Institution Group

44

9%

42

10%

BY INDUSTRYRATEDVERY STRONG
MARKET

Infrastructure and Natural Resources

49

23%

48

23%

Disruptive Technologies and Funds 5

45

18%

41

14%

IFC

44

11%

42

11%

Investment Services AIMM Score by Region
FY20

FY19

AIMM SCOREAVERAGERATED
VERY STRONG
MARKET

Sub-Saharan Africa

47

Latin America and the Caribbean

37

BY REGION

AIMM SCOREAVERAGERATED
VERY STRONG
MARKET

16%

46

16%

8%

35

7%

East Asia and the Pacific

47

11%

45

10%

Middle East and North Africa

44

21%

45

25%

Europe and Central Asia

39

7%

37

6%

South Asia

47

7%

46

9%

Global

43

10%

35

0%

IFC

44

11%

42

11%

5.	This is a new department in FY20 that includes all sub-sectors from the predecessor, FY19 department (Telecom, Media, Technology,
and Venture Investing) except telecommunications infrastructure.

94 IFC ANNUAL REPORT 2020

Development effectiveness of Advisory projects is
assessed at project completion. In FY20, 134 Advisory
projects qualified for ex-post evaluation werecompleted during the period and were self-assessedfor development-effectiveness ratings. Similar tothe performance of FY19, 73 percent of the projects
were rated mostly successful or better, above the IFC
target of 65 percent.

Advisory Services Development Effectiveness Score by Region
6

Global

FY20

FY19

67%

100%

Sub-Saharan Africa

66%

68%

South Asia

86%

70%

Middle East and North Africa

88%

67%

Latin America and the Caribbean

75%

64%

Europe and Central Asia

75%

94%

East Asia and the Pacific

70%

74%

IFC

73%

73%

7

Advisory Services Development Effectiveness Score by
Business Area
8

9

FY20

FY19

Financial Institutions Group

79%

79%

Manufacturing, Agribusiness, and Services

67%

70%

Infrastructure and Natural Resources

57%

100%

Disruptive Technologies and Funds

100%

0%

Transaction Advisory

69%

59%

Other Advisory, including Environment, Social and Governance

63%

100%

Advisory via Equitable Growth, Finance and Institutions (GPs)

77%

74%

IFC

73%

73%

IFC’s investment and advisory services clients
struggled to report data due to COVID-19. In lightof the situation, IFC management decided toextend reach data collection to ensure properquality control and external assurance. Completed
data will be posted on the electronic version of
the IFC annual report once finalized, available at:www.ifc.org/annualreport.

IFC operations contribute to several Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs) through its direct
investments and advisory services. Integral to
IFC’s mandate and aligned with the WBG’s twingoals are SDGs 1 and 10: “No Poverty” and “Reduced
Inequality.” At the strategic sector level, IFC promotes
investment and advisory projects in infrastructure,
agriculture, financial inclusion, health andeducation — aligned with SDGs 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, and 9.

6.	Development Effectiveness Score is calculated as the percentage of projects rated mostly successful or better in total number ofadvisory projects rated in ex-post evaluation for a fiscal year.
7.	The FY19 and FY20 DE for Global are based on less than 5 rated projects.
8.	The FY19 and FY20 DE for Disruptive Technologies and Funds, and FY20 DE for Infrastructure & Natural Resources and Other Advisory,
including Environment, Social & Governance are based on less than 5 rated projects.
9.	The business grouping is different from last year to reflect the re-alignment of Advisory Services. The FY19 data is also recalculated as
the comparators.

IFC ANNUAL REPORT 202095

Across sectors and regions, IFC seeks to promote
employment creation and economic growth, genderequality, environmental and social sustainability, andclimate-change adaptation and mitigation — alignedwith SDGs 8, 5, 12, and 13, respectively. Furthermore,
IFC has prioritized partnership with private investors
to mobilize new sources of finance — alignedwith SDG 17.
IFC’s results-measurement framework thatcomprises mostly sector-level outcome indicators,
including Harmonized Indicators for Private Sector
Operations (HIPSO) enables it to maintain a line ofsight between IFC’s objectives and the SDGs.

WHAT IFC LEARNED FROM SELF-EVALUATIONRESULTSIFC undertakes specific sectoral and country-levelassessments of its programs to fill knowledge
gaps and provide real-time solutions with a strong
feedback loop into operations. To strengthen andenhance this initiative, IFC will launch a revamped
approach to evaluation enabling us to implement
the World Bank Group Evaluation Principles.
This is expected to increase the use of selfevaluation findings to influence IFC’s efficiency andeffectiveness, inform key priorities, and improve
the articulation and delivery of IFC 3.0. It includes
a three-year work program, a structured process toenhance selectivity and visibility, and an increased
focus on technical rigor and consistency.
In FY20, IFC completed 10 evaluations. Eleven (11)active evaluations had extended completion dates
due to COVID-19. There are 39 active evaluations in
the portfolio. Key findings of selected evaluations
completed in FY20 include:

The Women Entrepreneurs Opportunity Facility (WEOF)
Assessment
An assessment of the Women Entrepreneurs
Opportunity Facility (WEOF), a partnership between
Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women and IFC Banking
on Women showed that the facility has delivered$1.45 billion in investments over the past five years
for local financial institutions to lend to womenowned businesses. This first-of-its-kind financefacility has supported nearly 53,000 entrepreneurs indeveloping countries through 53 financial institutions
across 33 countries as of October 2019. WEOF has
surpassed its original goals set at its launch in2014 — having already delivered more than double its

96 IFC ANNUAL REPORT 2020

initial goal of mobilizing $600 million for emergingmarket financial institutions to lend to women-owned
small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
WEOF-participating financial institutions arereporting healthy growth and strong asset quality intheir women-owned SME portfolios, results that will
help develop a more inclusive financial market andnarrow the $1.5 trillion finance gap faced by womenowned businesses. Five years in, WEOF is reinforcing
the impact of focusing on women, including better
gender disaggregated data and initial results pointing
to women as a stronger borrower base.

Investment Climate Reform Program, Ethiopia
The program implemented reforms in investment
policy, business entry and operations, and tradelogistics areas. The key findings of the evaluation are:• Investment policy reforms contributed to Ethiopia’s

substantial increase in FDI over the past few years(net FDI inflows grew from $1.8 billion in 2014 to$3.6 billion in 2017). IFC support was attributed with
between $228 million and $281 million of additional
investment. This includes a share of investment
triggered by sector-specific interventions, throughwhich 32 foreign investors were attracted toEthiopia, generating between $43 million and$96 million of investment while creating 5,600 to
11,400 new jobs.
• Business entry and operation reforms generated
business cost savings estimated at $34 million.
• Trade logistics reforms and subsequent reduced
time to trade were estimated at $61 million
cost savings.