AFISA (IFC-49788)

Countries
  • Cameroon
Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.
Specific Location
Douala, Yaounde, and Ngaoundere
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
Hold
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."
Borrower
AFISA Food Industry S.A.; AFISA Flour Mills S.A.; Trans Afrique General Trading FZCO
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)
$ 18.86 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.
Currency conversion note:
Bank reported 16
Converted using 2025-06-30 exchange rate.
Bank Documents
Primary Source

Original disclosure @ IFC website

Updated in EWS Sep 24, 2025

Disclosed by Bank Jun 30, 2025

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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, IFC is considering a €16 million senior loan investment to AFISA Food Industry S.A. and AFISA Flour Mills S.A. (together referred to as AFISA or Company) and their parent company, Trans Afrique General Trading FZCO (TransAfrique). The proposed financing will support their working capital requirements for (i) wheat imports to support expanded milling capacity, and (ii) growth of their rice and sugar import business.

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 based on IFC’s Policy on Environmental and Social Sustainability. IFC’s review concluded that the E&S risks and impacts associated with this project are limited, site-specific, and can be readily avoided or mitigated through generally accepted mitigation measures described in this document and in the Environmental and Social Action plan (ESAP). The key E&S risks and issues for this investment include: (i) adequacy of the company’s E&S Management System (ESMS) and organizational capacity to develop and implement E&S management plans (ESMPs) and standard operating procedures (SOPs) and manage operations in accordance with the Performance Standards (PS), (ii) assurance of fair, safe and healthy working conditions for direct and contract workers, including adequate grievance management, (iii) management of energy and water efficiency, (iv) life and fire safety and emergency preparedness; (v) the management and control of potential supply chain risks and impacts associated with wheat import; and (vi) management of health and safety risks related to grain storage (e.g., dust explosion), transport and construction activities.

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

The proposed investment consists of an IFC A loan of up to €9 million and a subordinated loan from IFC acting as the Implementing Entity of the Canada – IFC Facility for Resilient Food Systems (FRFS) for up to €7 million.

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.

AFISA is owned by TransAfrique. TransAfrique is wholly owned by the Elnefeidi Group, a Sudanese family-run conglomerate led by Amin Bashir Elnefeidi (Board President) and Ahmed Bashir Elnefeidi (Group CEO).  

Incorporated in 2010 in Dubai, TransAfrique operates across five sectors—flour milling, food commodity imports, transport/logistics, construction, and real estate—with a presence in Cameroon, Chad, and other Central African countries.

Private Actor 1 Private Actor 1 Role Private Actor 1 Sector Relation Private Actor 2 Private Actor 2 Role Private Actor 2 Sector
- - - - AFISA Flour Mills S.A. Client -
- - - - AFISA Food Industry S.A. Client -
- - - - Trans Afrique General Trading FZCO Parent Company -

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.

AFISA Food Industry S.A.
Hussein Bashir Elnefeidi
Managing Director
+237655990000
hussein@elnefeidigroup.com
8.499XS-499 Zone portuaire du Cameroun Base NavaleBP. 15303 Douala, Cameroon
https://www.elnefeidi.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