West Africa Blue Carbon (DFC-2024-WESTAFRICABLU)

Regions
  • Africa
Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.
Countries
  • Sierra Leone
Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.
Specific Location
Bonthe and Moyamba regions
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
  • US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC)
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."
Borrower
West Africa Blue, The Africa Conservation Initiative Ltd.
A public entity (government or state-owned) provided with funds or financial support to manage and/or implement a project.
Sectors
  • Climate and Environment
  • Finance
The service or industry focus of the investment. A project can have several sectors.
Investment Type(s)
Equity, Guarantee
The categories of the bank investment: loan, grant, guarantee, technical assistance, advisory services, equity and fund.
Investment Amount (USD)
$ 10.00 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)
$ 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.
Bank Documents
Other Related Projects
Primary Source

Original disclosure @ DFC website

Updated in EWS Jan 6, 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.

As stated by the DFC, the Insured is developing and implementing community-focused conservation and income diversification activities funded by the issuance of carbon credits in the Bonthe and Moyamba regions of Sierra Leone.

Since 2012, the rate of mangrove deforestation in Sierra Leone’s Sherbro River Estuary has increased significantly, reaching a rate of 1.7% forest loss per year. Local indigenous communities in this region are highly economically disadvantaged and have increasingly turned to mangrove harvesting to replace income lost due to the decline of the local fishing industry.

In response to these challenges, the Project is expected to have a positive development impact focused on Bonthe and Moyamba regions of Sierra Leone by developing and implementing a conservation and restoration plan across up to approximately 74,000 hectares in the area, protecting mangroves and diversifying local income through new livelihood opportunities and the return of revenue gained through the sale of carbon credits to local communities.

The Project is also expected to have a positive environmental impact, helping to address the communities’ resilience and adaptation to climate change, improve carbon sequestration and climate change mitigation, as well as protect endangered species and ecosystems.

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

As stated on the company's website, West Africa Blue partner[s] with communities and governments throughout West Africa to originate and develop high integrity carbon projects, with a focus on
blue carbon. [Their] projects seek to preserve, restore, and sustainably manage coastal ecosystems, financed through the issuance of high-quality carbon credits.

As stated on the company's website, The Africa Conservation Intiative Limited's mission is revitalizing Africa's landscapes with economically empowering conservation and rewilding solutions.

Private Actor 1 Private Actor 1 Role Private Actor 1 Sector Relation Private Actor 2 Private Actor 2 Role Private Actor 2 Sector
The Africa Conservation Initiative Ltd. Contractor Climate and Environment contracts with West Africa Blue Client Finance

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.

No project contacts provided at the time of disclosure.

ACCESS TO INFORMATION

Unlike many other development finance institutions, DFC does not currently have an access to information policy.

Under the United States Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), DFC is obliged to respond to reasonably formulated requests for Agency records. However, DFC may apply exemptions from release to certain types of information and may charge fees in responding to requests. DFC has a designated FOIA officer who is trained in how to respond to requests and implement the law. You can learn more about filing a FOIA request at: https://www.dfc.gov/foia

ACCOUNTABILITY MECHANISM OF THE UNITED STATES INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT FINANCE CORPORATION (DFC)

The Office of Accountability is an independent office that addresses complaints about environmental or social issues related to DFC-supported projects. The office provides communities an opportunity to have concerns independently reviewed and addressed. If you submit a complaint to the Office of Accountability, it may assist you by either seeking to address your problems by facilitating a problem solving dialogue between you and those implementing the project and/or investigating whether the DFC complied with its policies to prevent environmental, social, human rights, and labor harms.

You can find more information about the Office of Accountability at: https://www.dfc.gov/who-we-are/office-accountability

How it works

How it works