Bakhresa II

pending

Established in 1983, the Bakhresa Group (“Bakhresa” or “the company”) currently operates grain milling operations in Tanzania, Uganda and Malawi, along with grain storage facilities in Mozambique. The company is also constructing a grain milling facility in Rwanda which will be completed in early 2011. The combined annual milling capacity of the company, inclusive of the facility in Rwanda, is approximately 900,000 tons. Allied to these operations, the company also has investments in manufacturing facilities associated with fruit juices, ice cream and bottling water, amongst others. IFC’s involvement with Bakhresa is currently limited to investments in the existing facilities situated in Malawi and Mozambique, and the new facility being constructed in Rwanda. This project involves a $20.5 million loan to Bakhresa of which $8 million will be allocated to construction of a new 250 ton per day flour mill in Nacala, Mozambique. A further $2.5 million will be used to fund 20 additional grain transport vehicles for the operations in Rwanda, and the remaining $10 million is to be provided as a standby loan to the company for activities still to be defined. Flour milling is typically a relatively benign process. Following transport to site, grain is offloaded from vehicles in 50 kg bags which are emptied into hoppers and transferred to grain silos. Thereafter, the grain is cleaned by means of screening, separation and aspiration and then scoured to remove the loose dust on the grain particles. The grain is then dampened and placed in temporary bins for 24 hours following which it is milled by means of a grinding and sifting system. Product is generally 75% flour and 25% byproduct (bran and pollard), although these quantities may vary depending on the quality of grain received. The flour is then bagged (25 – 50 kg), while the bran and pollard is either sold locally as animal feed, or exported. Bakhresa sources limited quantities of grain from Africa, with the majority being imported from countries such as Argentina, United States, Canada and Australia. In Mozambique, the grain will be transferred from vessels at the Nacala port into Bakhresa’s grain silos which are situated at the port. The grain will then be transported by road to the mill which is located approximately 10 km inland. While the intention is to sell the product to the local market, should there be excess capacity, this will be transported to Malawi. While Bakhresa generally assumes responsibility for the transport of grain from the respective port to their various facilities, the transport of product to customers is typically undertaken by the customers themselves. The new mill in Rwanda will source grain via the Port of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania. From here it will be railed inland to Issaka which is also located in Tanzania. As there is no rail link between Issaka and Kigali, the grain will then be transported by road to the mill which is located in a newly established industrial park in Kigali, Rwanda. It is for this purpose that the additional vehicles will be acquired.