SL Flour Mill (IFC-49068)

Countries
  • Sierra Leone
Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.
Specific Location
Cline Town, Freetown
Whenever identified, the area within countries where the impacts of the investment may be experienced. Exact locations of projects may not be identified fully or at all in project documents. Please review updated project documents and community-led assessments.
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
Approved
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
Jul 17, 2024
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
Sierra Leone Flour Mill Limited
A public entity (government or state-owned) provided with funds or financial support to manage and/or implement a project.
Sectors
  • Agriculture and Forestry
The service or industry focus of the investment. A project can have several sectors.
Investment Type(s)
Loan
The categories of the bank investment: loan, grant, guarantee, technical assistance, advisory services, equity and fund.
Investment Amount (USD)
$ 12.00 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.
Project Cost (USD)
$ 19.20 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.
Bank Documents
Primary Source

Original disclosure @ IFC website

Updated in EWS Jul 25, 2024

Disclosed by Bank May 20, 2024

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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.

According to the Bank’s website, the proposed investment is an up to US$12 million loan to Sierra Leone Flour Mill Limited (“SLFM” or the “Company”) guaranteed by BSB International Limited (“BSB” or the “Guarantor”, together with SLFM referred to as the “Group”) to support SLFM’s US$19.2 million project for the expansion of its (i) milling capacity from 150 metric tons (MT) of wheat per day to 450 MT and (ii)  storage capacity from 8,400 MT to 28,400 MT at its factory located in Cline Town, Freetown, Sierra Leone (the “Project”). The Project may be supported by the Canada-IFC Facility for Resilient Food Systems (Canada FRFS”), subject to obtaining the necessary internal approvals, as described in the Blended Finance section.

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.

This is a Category B project according to IFC's Policy on Environment and Social Sustainability (2012) due to limited and site-specific E&S risks and impacts associated with the proposed expansion.

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

The total project cost is US$19.2 million.

The proposed investment is a US$6 million IFC A Loan and a US$6 million concessional loan from Canada-IFC Facility for Resilient Food Systems (Canada FRFS”).

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.

Client: Sierra Leone Flour Mill Limited (“SLFM”) 

Guarantor: BSB International Limited

Mr. Amadu Juldeh Sowe, the Founder and CEO, is a seasoned entrepreneur in Sierra Leone with over 35 years’ experience in business management and development. He owns 100% of SLFM and BSB.

Private Actor 1 Private Actor 1 Role Private Actor 1 Sector Relation Private Actor 2 Private Actor 2 Role Private Actor 2 Sector
- - - - BSB International Limited (Sierra Leone) Investor -
- - - - Sierra Leone Flour Mill Ltd Client -

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.

Sierra Leone Flour Mill Ltd
Amadu Juldeh Sowe
Chief Executive Officer
+23277602114
sowe@bsbtellme.com
1, Lumley Street, Freetown, Sierra Leone

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

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How it works