Kazyon debt I (IFC-49989)

Countries
  • Egypt
  • Morocco
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
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
Dec 20, 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
Kazyon Limited
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 Type(s)
Loan
The categories of the bank investment: loan, grant, guarantee, technical assistance, advisory services, equity and fund.
Investment Amount (USD)
$ 30.00 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.
Bank Documents
Primary Source

Original disclosure @ IFC website

Updated in EWS Mar 16, 2025

Disclosed by Bank Nov 7, 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 IFC investment is in the form of a financing package of up to US$30 million to Kazyon Retail Sarlau (Kazyon Morocco), with Tawfeer for Food Products (Kazyon Egypt) being a Co-Borrower, to support Kazyon Morocco’s expansion plan which includes the roll out of new stores and Distribution Centers in Morocco. Kazyon Morrocco started operations in 2023 and currently operates one DC and 102 stores as of end of August 2024.

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 2012 Policy on Environment and Social (E&S) Sustainability as the proposed project will have limited adverse E&S impacts that are few, site specific, largely reversible and readily addressed through existing mitigation measures and good international industry practices (GIIP). Key E&S risks and issues associated with the project include (a) the company’s management and monitoring systems to identify and mitigate E&S risks and impacts from its activities, including operations in Morocco; (b) fair, safe and healthy labor and working conditions for the workers and contractors including management of occupational health and safety (OHS), (c) management of life and fire safety (LFS) and emergency preparedness.

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

An 8-year financing package in the form of an A Loan of up to US$30 million to support Kazyon Morocco’s investment program over the next three to five years.

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.

Kazyon Morocco is a wholly owned subsidiary of Kazyon Limited UK (Kazyon), which is also the 100% owner of Kazyon Egypt, the largest grocery retailer in Egypt with more than 7,000 employees, five DCs and 935 stores as of end of August 2024.

The company was founded in 2014 by Mr. Hassan Heikal. Kazyon’s shareholders include: (i) ADP III, a fund managed by Development Partners International (35.5%), (ii) Challender Universal Limited (20.6%) and Supreme Universal Holdings (9.1%), both owned by members of Qatar Royal Family and (iii) HE Partners Limited, owned by Mr. Hassan Heikal (7.9%), (iv) Red Hawk Long Term Investments Limited, owned by EFG Hermes and a charitable foundation in the United Kingdom (8.3%), with the remaining 18.6% ownership held by several institutional and individual investors.

Private Actor 1 Private Actor 1 Role Private Actor 1 Sector Relation Private Actor 2 Private Actor 2 Role Private Actor 2 Sector
- - - - Kazyon Limited 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.

Kazyon Limited (UK)
Omar Bebars
Chief Financial Officer
+20-1222183654
omar.bebars@kazyon.com
1 Bartholomew Lane, London, EC2N 2AX, United Kingdom

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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