Sekem Holdings

completed

SEKEM Holdings (the group), a privately owned holding company, was established in June 2001 to rationalize the activity and organization of six existing companies of the SEKEM Group which are now wholly owned subsidiaries. SEKEM has approached IFC for a corporate loan of up to USD 5 million to implement an expansion, re-organization and financial restructuring plan for the group as a whole. This project, with an estimated cost of USD 13.6 million, would be IFC’s first investment in the phyto-pharmaceutical sector. The entire production is achieved using bio-dynamic methods. Based on the premise that organic cultivation does not produce any unusable waste, all products of the system can be either sold or re-used in cultivation, thereby creating a sustainable process. The rationale for the project is threefold: (i) to enable the group to take advantage of growth in the domestic and international markets for phyto-pharmaceuticals and organic products, while preparing itself for Egypt''s imminent implementation of WTO rules; (ii) to rationalize its financial structure and (iii) to gain efficiencies through restructuring of its operations. The first company in the group was established by Dr. Ibrahim Abouleish in 1979 for the organic production of herbs and spices. Its phyto-pharmaceutical division, supported by DEG, was started in 1986. The group wishes to use 70% of the corporate investment for this project to generate additional export and domestic sales in phyto-pharmaceuticals.