Sonatel Senegal

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   Sonatel SA (“The Company” or “Sonatel”) is a regional telecom operator established since 1985 in Senegal, with operations in four other African countries (i.e. Mali, Guinea, Sierra Leone and Guinea Bissau), and owned respectively by Orange (42%), the Government of Senegal (27%), and employees (8%); the remaining 23% is publicly traded on the BRVM (the regional securities exchange serving 8 West Africa countries). The company offers integrated telecommunications solutions, including global telecom (broadband, mobile, internet), television, mobile money, energy, content and data.Sonatel is seeking to raise €202m in XOF equivalent to fund its 2024 Capex program in Senegal and potential expansion to a new geography, to be defined. The program will primarily focus on new deployments, densification to enhance quality of service (especially in underserved areas), and capacity extension. IFC proceeds will be directed to Capex in Senegal and potential cross-border acquisition for a total own account of € 75 m in XOF equivalent through i) a Sustainability Linked Financing (SLF) loan of up to € 37m out of a € 87m total debt package (the remaining € 50m will be in the form of parallel loans) and ii) € 38 m (XOF 25 bn equivalent), out of a € 114 m (XOF 75 bn equivalent) assets-backed securitization bond issuance on the Regional Stock Exchange (BRVM). IFC will act as co-anchor investor in the bond issuance. In 2018,the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), a member of the World Bank Group, issued a guarantee coverage to Sonatel for the acquisition of Orange in Sierra Leone https://www.miga.org/project/sonatel-mobile-telecom-services-1.