Westfalia Moz II (IFC-42280)

Countries
  • Mozambique
Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.
Specific Location
Catandica area, Manica Province
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
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."
Voting Date
May 20, 2019
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
WESTFALIA FRUTO MOZAMBIQUE LIMITADA
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)
Equity, Loan
The categories of the bank investment: loan, grant, guarantee, technical assistance, advisory services, equity and fund.
Investment Amount (USD)
$ 7.50 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)
$ 7.50 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 May 8, 2019

Disclosed by Bank Apr 10, 2019

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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.

Westfalia Fruto Mozambique (WFM) is considering acquisition of land and development of an avocado and litchi farm in the Catandica area of Manica Province in Mozambique. The Project will involve acquisition of 958 ha Pegache Farm for the development of 100 ha of avocado orchards. The Project will also support local small farmers and emerging commercial growers through provision of training and technical assistance.

Pegache Farm is located on the outskirts of Catandica, in the Barue District of Manica Province in Mozambique. The farm is located on the northern side of Catandica Town, at the eastern base of the Cerro Choa Mountain.  

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

The Project will be supported by the IDA18 IFC-MIGA Private Sector Window (IDA PSW), created by the World Bank Group to catalyse private sector investment in IDA countries, with a focus on fragile and conflict affected states.

The proposed Project is estimated to cost USD 7.5m and will be financed with 50% debt and 50% equity.

IFC and IDA PSW are jointly considering financing part of the debt package with a loan of USD 2.8 million to finance the Project consisting of: i) IFC A Loan of up to USD 1.4 million; and ii) IDA PSW Loan of up to USD 1.4 million from IFC acting as Implementing Entity of IDA PSW.

AgDevCo will provide balance of the debt package in the form of a loan of USD 0.9 million. The remaining 50% will be financed through equity from Westfalia Fruit and AgDevCo in the proportion of 75% and 25%, respectively.   

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.

Westfalia Fruto Mozambique (WFM) is a commercial scale-avocado farm that was established in 2014 with the development of a 250-ha avocado orchard and packing house near the vicinity of Chimoio, a city in central Mozambique. 

WFM is indirectly 75% owned by Westfalia Fruits and 25% by AgDevCo (together the Sponsors). Westfalia Fruits is a wholly owned subsidiary of Hans Merensky Holdings Proprietary Limited (HMH) and is a leading multinational supplier of fresh subtropical fruit.

HMH is a South African-based vertically-integrated, natural resource-based Company which was created in 1949 and owns two main businesses: (i) the fruit business (Westfalia) and (ii) the timber business (Merensky or Merensky Timbers).  HMH's operations are spread across Sub-Saharan Africa, South America and Europe.

HMH Group shareholding is as follows: The Hans Merensky Foundation - 40%, the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) - 30%, IFC - 20%, and, three Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE) organizations: Vuka Forestry Holdings (4%), Women Investment Portfolio Holdings (WIPHOLD) (3%), and, HMH Employee Share Ownership Plan (3.0%) owning the outstanding 10%.

AgDevCo is a social impact investor and project developer working in the African agriculture sector.

Private Actor 1 Private Actor 1 Role Private Actor 1 Sector Relation Private Actor 2 Private Actor 2 Role Private Actor 2 Sector
- - - - AgDevCo Investor -
- - - - Hans Merensky Holdings (Pty) Ltd Parent Company -
- - - - Westfalia Fruit Products Investor -
- - - - Westfalia Fruto Mocambique 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.

Zac Bard, Managing Director
Westfalia Africa – Hans Merensky Holdings
PO Box 52288
Saxonwold 2132
South Africa
Phone: +27 (0) 11 381 5753
Email: zacb@westfalia.co.za 

ACCOUNTABILITY MECHANISM OF IFC

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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