Illovo Malawi

pending

Illovo Sugar (Malawi) plc (ISM or “the company”) is listed on the Malawi Stock Exchange and is majority-owned by ABF Sugar, which is a business forming part of the international food, ingredients and retail group, Associated British Foods plc. ISM is headquartered in Limbe and has two estates with growing and manufacturing facilities at Nchalo and Dwangwa respectively, where it grows sugar cane and produces raw, brown, and refined sugar. With the support of outgrowers, these two estates cultivate over two million tons of cane annually. The IFC funding relates only to operations at ISM’s Nchalo Estate, which lies within Malawi’s Shire Valley, near to the World Bank (WB) supported Shire Valley Transformation Project (SVTP). For the first component of this project, ISM plans to become an anchor off-taker of the SVTP through the construction and operation of enhanced bulk water supply and irrigation systems. These irrigation systems will allow the Nchalo Estate to significantly reduce water and energy consumption and ultimately reduce the cost of production at the estate. For the second component of this project, ISM plans to enhance the capacity of its current factory through the replacement of existing steam boilers and the retrofit of emissions abatement equipment.IFC has recently committed a debt financing package of up to US$ 81 million to ISM to support with the (i) upgrade of bulk water infrastructure; and (ii) the replacement of old technology steam boilers at its Nchalo Estate (“the Project”).