Societe des Caoutchoucs de Grand Bereby

completed

Summary Of Project Information (SPI)Project Name:Cote D’Ivoire - SOGB Region:Sub-Saharan AfricaSector:Project No:009552Projected Board Date:June 11, 1999Company Name:Société des Caoutchoucs de Grand Béréby ("SOGB")      Technical Partner and/or Major Shareholders SOGB is controlled by Béréby Finances (Befin), which owns 65.2% of the Company, along with the Government of Côte d’Ivoire, and private investors. Befin is in turn controlled by Compagnie Internationale de Cultures (Intercultures), an affiliate of the Belgian holding company Société Financière des Caoutchoucs(SOCFIN), and other investors include IFC, DEG, PROPARCO, and Compagnie des Caoutchoucs de Pakidié. SOCFIN is part of the Rivaud and Bolloré groups, which have large investments in Africa. SOCFIN directly or indirectly owns oil palm companies in Côte d’Ivoire, Cameroon, Malaysia, and Indonesia, and currently manages 169,584 ha of oil palm plantations and 36,600 ha of rubber plantations in Asia and Africa. SOGB is managed by Socfin Consultant Services (SOCFINCO), a key affiliate of SOCFIN, which specializes in providing management as well as consulting services to the oil palm and rubber industries. Project Cost Including proposed IFC investment The total project cost is estimated at US$23.8 million. The cost of the agricultural component (Phase I) to be partly financed by IFC is estimated at US$10.3 million. The IFC loan of US$6 million will finance about 58% of the Phase I investment program, while the remaining funding will be financed by the revenues of the Company''s rubber operations.  Location of project and Description of site The project is located on the SOGB concession, 25-km northeast of Grand-Béréby in the southwestern part of Côte d’Ivoire.      Description of Company and Purpose of Project SOGB is the leading rubber producer in Côte d’Ivoire. The Company exploits a 35,000 ha concession, out of which 15,000 ha are planted with rubber trees, mainly on the highlands. The project comprises two phases, consisting of: (1) the establishment of a 5,000 ha oil palm plantation, in the low-lying lands of the concession, and (2) the construction of a 20 Mt. per hour oil extraction mill in year 2003, to process the plantation''s palm fruit bunches. The project will enable the Company to optimize the use of its land, continue improving its overall efficiency, and diversify from rubber production. It will take advantage of the strong demand for edible oil in the Ivorian market and the UMEOA countries. IFC has already invested in the Company through the acquisition of 16.7% of the shares of Befin when SOGB was privatized in 1995, and is interested in supporting the Company''s long-term development and its efforts to improve further its efficiency. IFC will provide long-term financing that is not otherwise available in Ivory Coast as existing long-term liquidities have usually shorter terms and have dried up following a boom in investments over the last few years. The project will create about 250 direct jobs and additional contract jobs for field maintenance and harvest work. In addition, it will enable the Company to improve further the efficiency of its rubber operations through the redeployment of part of its staff. It will also have a positive environmental impact by reducing fire hazards through planting and thereby preserve the primary forests located on the concession. Environmental Category and Issues This is a category B project according to IFC’s environmental review procedure and the following potential environmental, social, health and safety impacts of the project were analyzed: impacts to natural habitat, potential impacts related to economic displacement, integrated pest management, air emissions, solid waste handling and management, water use and waste water quality and occupational health and safety.The area to be developed comprises land cleared for rice cultivation, low bush and scrub vegetation and degraded secondary forest and there will be no loss of primary or good quality secondary forest or other significant natural habitats. No new land is to be acquired and no economic displacement will occur. The company will implement standard Integrated Pest Management approaches as the oil palms develop and no banned or restricted agrochemicals will be used. Air emissions from the CPO mill will be in compliance with World Bank Group requirements, waste water will be treated and used for irrigation and solid waste will be disposed of as fertilizer or for road construction purposes.The company provides training in the use and handling of all agrochemicals and provides worker health facilities (including a hospital). Employees who work with chemicals receive regular health checks on a six monthly basis and all employees who use agrochemicals are provided with appropriate personal protective equipment.      The is from the InfoShop.Date SPI sent to InfoShop:   May 11, 1999   “This Summary of Project Information is prepared and distributed to the public in advance of consideration of the proposed transaction by the Corporation’s Board of Directors. It is provided for the purpose of enhancing the transparency of IFC’s activities and should not be construed as presuming the outcome of IFC Board consideration.”For Additional Information contact: Corporate Relations Unit -telephone: (202) 473-7711facsimile: (202) 974-4384Environmental documents for this project are available at http://www.ifc.org and from the World Bank InfoShop (http://www.worldbank.org/html/pic/aboutinfo.html).