Africa Conservation & Communities Tourism Platform (IFC-46072)

Regions
  • Africa
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
Proposed
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
Feb 20, 2023
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
AFRICA CONSERVATION AND COMMUNITIES TOURISM FUND, SCSP SICAV-RAIF
A public entity (government or state-owned) provided with funds or financial support to manage and/or implement a project.
Sectors
  • Industry and Trade
The service or industry focus of the investment. A project can have several sectors.
Investment Amount (USD)
$ 14.00 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 Feb 7, 2023

Disclosed by Bank Jan 20, 2023

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.

The Africa Conservation & Communities Tourism Fund, SCSp SICAV – RAIF was established in 2021 as a structured debt vehicle providing loans to ecotourism businesses (safari operators, camps, lodges, hotels, etc.) in conservation areas in sub-Saharan Africa (the “Project”). ACCT is raising up to US$75m. The Fund is structured using a blended finance approach with three tranches of capital: a junior tranche, a senior tranche and a grant tranche.

The ACCT Fund is a response to conservation threats resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, with the specific aim of alleviating financial stress in the short to mid-term of well-managed conservation tourism businesses and increasing the conservation and community outcomes delivered by these businesses. As the impact of COVID-19 reduces, the ACCT Fund will also look at supporting operators who can catalyze significant financial flows to conservation activity in unutilized, or underutilized, ecologically important natural landscapes, to the benefit of the wildlife and communities who depend on them.  

Early Warning System Project Analysis
For a project with severe or irreversible impacts to local community and natural resources, the Early Warning System Team may conduct a thorough analysis regarding its potential impacts to human and environmental rights.

IFC RISK RATING: F1=2

Investment Description
Here you can find a list of individual development financial institutions that finance the project.
Financial Intermediary
A financial intermediary is a bank or financial institution that receives funds from a development bank. A financial intermediary then lends these funds to their clients (private actors) in the form of loans, bonds, guarantees and equity shares. Financial intermediaries include insurance, pension and equity funds. The direct financial relationship is between the development bank and the financial intermediary.
Private Actors Description
A Private Actor is a non-governmental body or entity that is the borrower or client of a development project, which can include corporations, private equity and banks. This describes the private actors and their roles in relation to the project, when private actor information is disclosed or has been further researched.

From the IFC webpage:

In addition to US$20m senior tranche capital seeded and committed by anchor investor The Nature Conservancy (TNC), the world’s largest conservation NGO, US$28.2m junior tranche capital committed by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (“BMZ”) through KfW, US$2.0m grant capital committed by USAID, ACCT will have multiple investors and stakeholders, including IFC. The affairs of the Fund are managed and controlled by ThirdWay Conservation Partners I GP, S.à r.l. (“ThirdWay Conservation Partners”), who serves as general partner, and has appointed Innpact Fund Management S.A to act as the Fund’s external alternative investment fund manager (“External AIFM”). ThirdWay Conservation Partners is part of the ThirdWay Partners group of companies (“TWP”), an advisory and asset management firm focused on sustainable development with a track record in Africa. Founded in 2014, TWP has 3 core offerings, namely impact consulting and corporate finance as part of its advisory team, as well as asset management. The firm is made up of 30+ dedicated team spread across their offices in London, Madrid, Maputo, Nairobi and Johannesburg. TWP has advised on US$1billion plus of transactions over 50 advisory mandates. Across its Group, TWP currently manages or advises 3 investment vehicles, including the ACCT Fund.


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.

Africa Conservation & Communities Tourism Fund, SCSp SICAV – RAIF
Mr. Maarten Weehuizen
Portfolio Manager – ACCT Fund
+447 4799 40197
mweehuizen@thirdway.earth
412 F, Route d’Esch, L – 1471, Luxembourg, Grand Duchy of Luxembourg
https://www.thirdway.earth/

 

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