GWFP AgroComp II (IFC-51039)

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."
Borrower
AGRO COMPANIES INTERNATIONAL SA
A public entity (government or state-owned) provided with funds or financial support to manage and/or implement a project.
Sectors
  • Agriculture and Forestry
  • Finance
  • Industry and Trade
The service or industry focus of the investment. A project can have several sectors.
Investment Type(s)
Guarantee
The categories of the bank investment: loan, grant, guarantee, technical assistance, advisory services, equity and fund.
Investment Amount (USD)
$ 20.00 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)
$ 60.00 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 Dec 30, 2025

Disclosed by Bank Nov 21, 2025

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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.

According to the Bank’s website, the proposed investment is a US$20m IFC unfunded participation under a Risk Sharing Facility (“RSF”) in an up to US$60m uncommitted transactional secured revolving trade finance Facility for 3-years with annual renewals with Banque Internationale de Commerce -BRED (Suisse) SA (“BIC-BRED” or “the Bank”) for Agro Companies International (“Agro Companies” or the “Group”). The RSF will finance Agro Companies’ grain trading working capital needs, mainly (i) cargoes on water with secured bills of lading (“BLs”), (ii) storage in warehouse at destination with Stock Monitoring Agreement (“SMA”), and (iii) receivables on African buyers mainly covered by prime insurers. It will be processed under the Global Warehouse Finance Program (“GWFP”) with delegated authority from the Board. 

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.

The investment is an IFC risk sharing facility in a trade finance facility with BIC-BRED for Agro Companies. The target commodities are wheat, corn, barley, soy, sunflower, and animal feed. The key E&S risks and impacts derive from the management of the potential E&S risks associated with soft commodity supply chains. Typical risks and impacts include occupational health & safety and IFC PS 2 and PS 6 supply chain-related risks. As such, the Project has been categorized as Category FI-2 in accordance with IFC's Sustainability Policy.

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

The total investment by the Bank is US$60m in an uncommitted transactional secured trade finance Facility for 3-years with annual renewals to be fronted by BIC-BRED in favor of Agro Companies International group entities. IFC’s investment as a disclosed risk participant will be for an amount of up to US$20m (i.e. 1/3rd of BIC-BRED Bank’s share).

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.

Agro Companies is a family-owned trading group based in Geneva, established in 1983 by M. Jean-Christophe Egli. It is today wholly owned by his daughter, Rachel Boubet-Egli. The Group has become the leading supplier of wheat to many countries in West & Central Africa, including Ghana, Cameroon, Guinea-Conakry and Togo. The Group is composed of 6 operating entities: (i) AgroHall, a wheat purchasing entity in Canada, (ii) Ifaco Grain, the main wheat trading entity, (iii) Ifaco Feed, the feed trading entity, (iv) Agri Company SA (Agrico), (v) Agro Industries SA, and (v) York Overseas, the shipping company of the Group.

Banque Internationale de Commerce -BRED (Suisse) SA (‘BIC-BRED’) is based in Geneva and is a wholly owned subsidiary of BRED Banque Populaire, Paris. The Bank was initially established as a branch in 1991 then obtained a full banking license in August 2015 from the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA). The mission of the Bank is to assist the development of companies engaged in the trade of energy, agricultural and metal commodities. BIC-BRED covers four sectors including Financial Institutions, FX & Trading, Trade Finance and Corporate Finance & Business Solutions.

Private Actor 1 Private Actor 1 Role Private Actor 1 Sector Relation Private Actor 2 Private Actor 2 Role Private Actor 2 Sector
- - - - Agro Companies International 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.

Agro Companies International
Xavier Panhard
CEO
+41223193939
x.panhard@agro-companies.com
86, Rue du Rhône, 1204 Genève, Suisse
www.agro-companies.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