| Project Detail |
The Project is a corporate loan of up to EUR 30 million to participate in the strategic investment plan of “Société Internationale de Plantations dHévéas (SIPH)” whose main activity is the production, processing and marketing of natural rubber. Natural rubber production has traditionally been concentrated in Asia, but rubber growing is now developing in West Africa, and the Paris-based SIPH Group, founded in 1905, has been the main player in this development. As part of its development strategy on the West African market, SIPH has launched an investment programme of nearly EUR 210 million. This programme involves (i) increasing industrial processing capacity for natural rubber, and (ii) renewing and expanding existing rubber plantations. The programme aims to contribute to the industrial development of Côte dIvoire, Nigeria, Ghana and Liberia where the Group owns several production units. The senior loan comprises two tranches: (i) a EUR 15 million tranche with a 6-year maturity (including a one-year grace period) and a EUR 15 million tranche over 10 years (including a four-year grace period). The Banks contribution will primarily be used to finance the SIPH investment programme in Côte dIvoire and Ghana as described in the table below. However, part of the funds may be mobilised for certain investments (CAPEX) in Nigeria and Liberia. The goal is to increase local processing capacity to reduce SIPHs dependence on external processing capacity, generally located in Asia. The project, which aims to transform rubber trees into natural rubber for export to international markets, will help to industrialise the West African rural areas concerned and to create zones of sustainable prosperity that actively foster the creation of wealth and employment for local communities, thereby limiting rural exodus.
Project Objectives
SIPHs objective is to develop natural rubber processing capacity on the continent by processing the raw material locally to reduce the Groups dependency on external milling capacity generally located in Asia (i.e. more than 40% of African production is now exported for processing in Asia). The key investment components entail (i) increasing the capacity of processing natural rubber latex through construction of two plants in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana; and (ii) renewing ageing rubber trees and expanding plantations in Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria and Liberia. |
