SANASA Development Bank

Subsidy : July 2024

BIO has granted EUR 201.930 of technical assistance to Sanasa Development Bank, a Sri Lankan licenced specialised bank.

Amount

€ 201,930.00

Type of investment

Subsidy

Beneficiary locations

Asia: Sri Lanka

Investment field

Financial Institutions

Activity

KK.64.190 Commercial banking

Organisation

SANASA Development Bank

Website

https://sdb.lk/en/

Domicile

Sri Lanka

More investments in

SANASA Development Bank

Equity € 3,387,334.87 (2021)
Debt € 7,270,400.00 (2019)

SDB was established in 1997 as a Licensed Specialized Bank to provide financial facilities to the Sanasa Movement, an island-wide network of savings and credit cooperatives in Sri Lanka. SDB has been listed on the Colombo Stock Exchange since 2012 and has become a leading MSME bank in Sri Lanka over the last years.

In 2019, SDB acquired the “UPay” digital payment platform and launched its mobile banking facility called “SDB Mobile”.

Its network comprises 94 branches with 1,491 employees, half of which are women. The SDB customer base (155,000) includes retail, SME and cooperatives and its offering goes from savings and deposits, to investments, loans and leasing products.

Technical assistance

The technical assistance is aimed at supporting Sanasa Develoment Bank (SDB) design strategic interventions to operationalise its new corporate strategy, and strengthen and upgrade some of the Bank’s core internal functions, practices and processes, to create an enabling environment for the implementation of these same interventions.

The TA project is expected to last 3 years and is co-financed by BIO and FMO.

Expected impact

The operationalisation of SDB’s corporate strategy, which is focused on strengthening the Bank’s exposure to the local agriculture sector through a value chain financing approach, and the more general outputs from this TA project are expected to result in:

Increased bankability for traditionally unbankable farmers in the Sri Lankan economy;
Contribution to the growth and development of the national agriculture sector;
Further development and competitive transformation of the Bank;
Making SDB more resilient while ensuring its business continuity.

Ultimately, the TA will enable SDB to increase its ambition, effectiveness and efficiency to support access to finance for rural and lower-income households, contributing to Sri Lanka’s resilience and sustainable development and in line with multiple SDGs.

Read impact and news about this project

News

SDB bank will issue 10% shares to Belgian Investment Company for Developing Countries (BIO)

09-07-2021

The Belgian Investment Company for Developing Countries (BIO) agreed with SDB bank, a pioneering provider of financial services, to take up a 10% share of the bank, amounting to Rs. 925 million at Rs. 51.50 a share, via SDB bank’s Secondary Public Offering (SPO).