Sonoco

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The proposed investment is a US$[25] mn senior corporate A loan to Société Nouvelle de Commerce (Sonoco or the Company), a Guinean diversified family business group, to support its expansion. The proposed financing would be used to invest in: (i) a 30k MT wheat storage facility to be located in the port of Conakry; and (ii) the construction of a greenfield food processing unit (seasoning cubes). The total Project cost is estimated at US$[35] mn. Apart from this project, Sonoco has a functioning flour mill, and it is currently building a beverage processing plant, an office building, and a metal processing plant.  The storage facility will be located on a 0.5 ha land under a 25-year renewable lease owned by the Port Authorities; and the food processing unit will be located on a portion of a 20-ha land under a 75-year lease owned by the Government of Guinea in the industrial zone of Conakry (‘’Commune de Ratomba’’), next to the flour mill. Under the latter lease agreement, the Company will be able to buy the land from the Government  as soon as the seasoning cube processing unit is built. During operations, the storage facility will employ 5-10 workers, and the processing unit will employ 30-50 workers.