Arise Special Economic Zone

pending

 Arise Integrated Industrial Platforms Ltd (Arise IIP or the company) is a developer and operator of Special Economic Zones (SEZ) and Industrial Parks across Africa. The sponsors of Arise IIP are Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) and Africa Transformation and Industrialization Fund (ATIF) who own 75.92% and 24.08%, respectively, of the company.  Arise IIP is a developer and operator of SEZs that provide common infrastructure and services (such as energy, water, and wastewater and waste management), good export connectivity and simplified administrative procedures to SEZ tenants. A key aim of the SEZs is allow the processing of raw agro-commodity products in their country of origin and generate added value prior to export and create employment opportunities. Arise currently has operational SEZs in Gabon, Togo (Phase 1), and Benin (Phase 1) and a number under development across Africa. Each SEZ is a joint venture with the respective government of the host country. The proposed investment is a corporate finance loan of up to € 250 million in A-Loan, B/Parallel Loans, and an IDA PSW subordinated tranche, with defined use of funds to develop: i) Phase 2 of the Plateforme Industrielle d’Adétikopé (PIA) in Togo; ii) Phase 2 of the Glo Djigbé Industrial Zone (GDIZ) in Benin; and iii) Phase 1 of Plateforme Industrielle Du Congo (PIC) in the Republic of Congo – RoC (greenfield); and iv) Phase 1 of Bugesera Special Economic Zone (BSEZ) in Rwanda (brownfield). This is collectively referred to as the project. The funds will be utilized for the construction of hard assets for the industrial real estate – i.e., land preparation, internal road network and lighting, connections to the national electricity grid and internal distribution, water abstraction, treatment and distribution, wastewater management, waste management, internet network, warehouses, inland container depot, truck parking bays, fire station, and other ancillary infrastructure and services. Tenants will lease serviced plots within the SEZs and will be responsible for construction, operation, and maintenance of their own facilities. SEZ operations refer to activities undertaken to operate and maintain the common infrastructures and servicesIn Togo, PIA Phase 2 will be developed on 328 ha of land located in the municipality of Zio 1 (Cantons of Dalavé and Kpomé), approximately 27 kilometres (km) from the City of Lomé, and approximately 9.7 km east of Phase 1 site. Phase 2 includes a 260-meter-wide industrial corridor with a road connecting to the Phase 1 site.  At the time of appraisal, construction of the road had commenced. In Benin GDIZ Phase 2 will be developed on 690 ha of land contiguous to Phase 1, located in the municipalities of Tori-Bossito and Ze, about 45 km from Cotonou along the interstate national road. Both SEZs are within a peri-urban zone consisting of a mix of settlements, industrial and agriculture areas. Other than the road component, construction of PIA and GDIZ Phase 2 had not yet commenced. SEZ construction is expected to commence in the fourth quarter of 2023 and expected to last 18 months. In the RoC, the project is located on 484 ha of land in the municipality of Loango, approximately 15 km west of Pointe Noire, and adjacent to the Atlantic Ocean. In Rwanda, the project is located on 320 ha of land in the Bugesera district, about 50 km, south of Kigali, near the new Bugesera airport, and 10 km before the Burundi border.