Nyumba Ya Akiba

completed

Nyumba Ya Akiba SARL (“NYA”, or the “company”), is a 50:50 joint venture between Lucky Cement Limited (LCL) of Pakistan and Groupe Rawji of the Democratic Republic of Congo – DRC - (together, the “Sponsors”). The company is headquartered in Kinshasa. Groupe Rawji is a DRC based multinational company with interests in logistics, banking (Rawbank – an existing IFC client), manufacturing, trading, real-estate development and port operations. Outside of DRC the Group also has operations in Angola, Belgium, China, Dubai, Germany, India, Nigeria, and South Africa. LCL is Pakistan’s largest producer of cement with a production capacity of 7.75 million tons per annum (tpa). LCL currently has two operational plants in Pakistan and employs over 2,200 employees. LCL is also currently developing an 871 000 tpa cement grinding facility in Basra, Iraq. LCL, through the NYA joint venture, plans to develop a greenfield cement project in the Songologo Region of the Bas-Congo Province of DRC, approximately 250 km south-west of Kinshasa, the capital city of the DRC. The N1 (the main Kinshasa-Matadi port highway) passes around 2 km from the project site, while the main Kinshasa – Matadi national railway line passes through the project site, south of the plant site. The key components of the cement project include: a cement plant (with a production capacity of 1.18 million tpa ); limestone quarry (to be exploited using opencast mining); overburden storage facility; 220 kV powerline (6 km in length) to an existing substation; employee accommodation camps (for approx. 290 personnel – 600 during the construction phase); waste management facility; access and haul roads; and auxiliary facilities (water management infrastructure, package sewage treatment plant, explosives stores etc.). Limestone, clay and laterite will be mined, crushed and mixed with sand in the clinker production process, which will then be milled at an on-site grinding plant with limestone and (imported) gypsum to produce cement. The expected life of the mine is at least 40 years. Ground cement will be stored in two concrete silos with a capacity 15 000 tons each. The plant will have the capacity to bulk-load cement for commercial clients as well as to package and load cement in bags for sale in local retail markets. The project will rely on the N1 highway to transport raw materials and finished product. In addition to this, NYA plans to enter into a contract with the relevant authority for use of the railways for the transportation of imported coal from Matadi Port, some 100 km west of the project site.IFC defined installation of the 6.6 km 220 kV powerline by the public utility company (Société Nationale d''Electricité, sarl - SNEL) as an Associated Facility in accordance with IFC’s Performance Standards and did not identify any critical elements. However, this will be further addressed during supplemental ESIA work which is further discussed in subsequent sections of this document.NYA holds a lease of 28.56 km2 under an exploration permit and the total footprint of the project will be approximately 150 ha. Land concession rights have been issued for occupation of the land and construction is planned to commence in the third quarter of 2014, and continue until 4th quarter of 2016 when production is expected to start.The area in which the project will be located is largely degraded and is considered a modified habitat. It is rural in nature and characterized by a lack of development or infrastructure. Approximately 10 000 people are estimated to live in the broader vicinity of the proposed project, while small settlements in the area include Yuku, Kokolo, Nkonda, Mbemba, Kinsua, Mbamba and Minkelo. NYA is hiring reputable Engineering, Procurement and Construction Management (EPCM) contractors to build the cement plant, with a projected timeline of 27 months for construction. The IFC proposed investment is a loan facility to partially finance the NYA Project.