Abacus II (IFC-43844)

Countries
  • Uganda
Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.
Financial Institutions
  • International Finance Corporation (IFC)
International, regional and national development finance institutions. Many of these banks have a public interest mission, such as poverty reduction.
Project Status
Active
Stage of the project cycle. Stages vary by development bank and can include: pending, approval, implementation, and closed or completed.
Bank Risk Rating
B
Environmental and social categorization assessed by the development bank as a measure of the planned project’s environmental and social impacts. A higher risk rating may require more due diligence to limit or avoid harm to people and the environment. For example, "A" or "B" are risk categories where "A" represents the highest amount of risk. Results will include projects that specifically recorded a rating, all other projects are marked ‘U’ for "Undisclosed."
Voting Date
Mar 12, 2021
Date when project documentation and funding is reviewed by the Board for consideration and approval. Some development banks will state a "board date" or "decision date." When funding approval is obtained, the legal documents are accepted and signed, the implementation phase begins.
Borrower
AK LIFE SCIENCES LTD
A public entity (government or state-owned) provided with funds or financial support to manage and/or implement a project.
Sectors
  • Education and Health
The service or industry focus of the investment. A project can have several sectors.
Investment Amount (USD)
$ 12.50 million
Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.
Primary Source

Original disclosure @ IFC website

Updated in EWS May 10, 2022

Disclosed by Bank Dec 8, 2020

Contribute Information
Can you contribute information about this project?
Contact the EWS Team

Project Description
If provided by the financial institution, the Early Warning System Team writes a short summary describing the purported development objective of the project and project components. Review the complete project documentation for a detailed description.

Established in 1995 in Uganda, AK Life Science Ltd (“AKL”, the “group” or the “company” - http://abacuspharma.com/), is a leading pharmaceutical and surgical equipment distributor in East Africa (Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda). In 2018, Carlyle Group (“Carlyle” or the “sponsor”) acquired a majority stake in AKL. Carlyle, a multinational private equity firm is an IFC investee fund. The group is headquartered in Uganda where it also has a 4,000 m2 central warehouse in addition to another two smaller warehouses in Tanzania and Burundi. While the main business is distribution of generic drugs imported from China and India, in 2009, AKL constructed a manufacturing plant in Uganda to produce parenteral drugs (IV fluids, ear, eye and nose drops). Proposed IFC investment includes US$12.5m A-Loan to AKL to support its expansion plan: (i) to grow its distribution network within East Africa countries through leasing of new warehouses and (ii) diversify manufacturing capacity by adding a generic medicines production line in the company’s existing production site (the “project”).

Investment Description
Here you can find a list of individual development financial institutions that finance the project.

Contact Information
This section aims to support the local communities and local CSO to get to know which stakeholders are involved in a project with their roles and responsibilities. If available, there may be a complaint office for the respective bank which operates independently to receive and determine violations in policy and practice. Independent Accountability Mechanisms receive and respond to complaints. Most Independent Accountability Mechanisms offer two functions for addressing complaints: dispute resolution and compliance review.

Contact Person: Rajaram Sankaran - Group CEO

Company Name: Abacus Group of Companies

Address: Plot No.28B-32B-34B, Coronation Avenue, UMA Show Grounds, Lugogo, Kampala, Uganda

Email: rajaram.sankaran@abacuspharma.com

ACCESS TO INFORMATION

You can submit a request for information disclosure at: https://disclosures.ifc.org/#/inquiries

If you believe that your request for information from IFC has been unreasonably denied, or that this Policy has been interpreted incorrectly, you can submit a complaint at the link above to IFC's Access to Information Policy Advisor, who reports directly to IFC's Executive Vice President.

ACCOUNTABILITY MECHANISM OF IFC/MIGA

The Compliance Advisor Ombudsman (CAO) is the independent complaint mechanism and fact-finding body for people who believe they are likely to be, or have been, adversely affected by an IFC or MIGA- financed project. If you submit a complaint to the CAO, they may assist you in resolving a dispute with the company and/or investigate to assess whether the IFC is following its own policies and procedures for preventing harm to people or the environment. If you want to submit a complaint electronically, you can email the CAO at CAO@worldbankgroup.org You can learn more about the CAO and how to file a complaint at http://www.cao-ombudsman.org

How it works

How it works