Arise Special Economic Zone (IFC-44846)

Regions
  • Africa
Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.
Countries
  • Benin
  • Congo, Republic of
  • Rwanda
  • Togo
Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.
Specific Location
Cotonou, Tori-Bossito, Ze (B), Zio, Dalavé, Kpomé, Lomé (T), Bugesera (R), Loango, Pointe Noire (C)
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
A
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 22, 2023
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
ARISE Integrated Industrial Platforms Limited
A public entity (government or state-owned) provided with funds or financial support to manage and/or implement a project.
Sectors
  • Agriculture and Forestry
  • Construction
  • Industry and Trade
  • Infrastructure
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)
$ 264.96 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 250
Converted using 2023-10-21 exchange rate.
Loan Amount (USD)
$ 264.96 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 250
Converted using 2023-10-21 exchange rate.
Project Cost (USD)
$ 922.05 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 870
Converted using 2023-10-21 exchange rate.
Primary Source

Original disclosure @ IFC website

Updated in EWS Nov 10, 2023

Disclosed by Bank Oct 21, 2023


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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 IFC, Arise Integrated Industrial Platforms Ltd (Arise IIP or the company) is a developer and operator of Special Economic Zones (SEZ) and Industrial Parks across Africa. The sponsors of Arise IIP are Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) and Africa Transformation and Industrialization Fund (ATIF) who own 75.92% and 24.08%, respectively, of the company.  Arise IIP is a developer and operator of SEZs that provide common infrastructure and services (such as energy, water, and wastewater and waste management), good export connectivity and simplified administrative procedures to SEZ tenants. A key aim of the SEZs is allow the processing of raw agro-commodity products in their country of origin and generate added value prior to export and create employment opportunities.
Arise currently has operational SEZs in Gabon, Togo (Phase 1), and Benin (Phase 1) and a number under development across Africa. Each SEZ is a joint venture with the respective government of the host country.

The proposed investment is a corporate finance loan of up to € 250 million in A-Loan, B/Parallel Loans, and an IDA PSW subordinated tranche, with defined use of funds to develop:
(i) Phase 2 of the Plateforme Industrielle d’Adétikopé (PIA) in Togo;
(ii) Phase 2 of the Glo Djigbé Industrial Zone (GDIZ) in Benin;
(iii) Phase 1 of Plateforme Industrielle Du Congo (PIC) in the Republic of Congo – RoC (greenfield); and
(iv) Phase 1 of Bugesera Special Economic Zone (BSEZ) in Rwanda (brownfield).
This is collectively referred to as the project. The funds will be utilized for the construction of hard assets for the industrial real estate – i.e., land preparation, internal road network and lighting, connections to the national electricity grid and internal distribution, water abstraction, treatment and distribution, wastewater management, waste management, internet network, warehouses, inland container depot, truck parking bays, fire station, and other ancillary infrastructure and services. Tenants will lease serviced plots within the SEZs and will be responsible for construction, operation, and maintenance of their own facilities. SEZ operations refer to activities undertaken to operate and maintain the common infrastructures and services.
In Togo, PIA Phase 2 will be developed on 328 ha of land located in the municipality of Zio 1 (Cantons of Dalavé and Kpomé), approximately 27 kilometres (km) from the City of Lomé, and approximately 9.7 km east of Phase 1 site. Phase 2 includes a 260-meter-wide industrial corridor with a road connecting to the Phase 1 site.  At the time of appraisal, construction of the road had commenced.
In Benin GDIZ Phase 2 will be developed on 690 ha of land contiguous to Phase 1, located in the municipalities of Tori-Bossito and Ze, about 45 km from Cotonou along the interstate national road. Both SEZs are within a peri-urban zone consisting of a mix of settlements, industrial and agriculture areas. Other than the road component, construction of PIA and GDIZ Phase 2 had not yet commenced. SEZ construction is expected to commence in the fourth quarter of 2023 and expected to last 18 months.
In the RoC, the project is located on 484 ha of land in the municipality of Loango, approximately 15 km west of Pointe Noire, and adjacent to the Atlantic Ocean.
In Rwanda, the project is located on 320 ha of land in the Bugesera district, about 50 km, south of Kigali, near the new Bugesera airport, and 10 km before the Burundi border.

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

As stated by the IFC, the financing for each country will be:
(i) GDIZ Benin with Euro 100 million;
(ii) PIC Republic of Congo with Euro 80 million;
(iii) BSEZ Rwanda with Euro 40 million; and
(iv) PIA Togo with Euro 30 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.

As stated by the IFC, ARISE shareholders are Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) and Africa Transformation and Industrialization Fund (ATIF), who own 75.92% and 24.08%, respectively. AFC is a multilateral financial institution created and owned by African sovereign states, with a minority private sector ownership, and operated in line with private sector governance principles.

ATIF is a management and employee-sponsored fund led by Mr. Gagan Gupta, ARISE's Founder and Chief Executive Officer. ATIF is registered in the United Arab Emirates and regulated by the Abu Dhabi Global Market.

As stated on the fund's website, ATIF is an investment company that aims to bring solutions to the problems hampering African development. To do so it will invest, alone or with co-investors, in assets supporting the continent’s industrialization and economic development

As stated by Bloomberg, Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) provides banking solutions. The Company offers project development, technical advisory, principal investing, corporate finance, and financial advisory services. AFC serves power, infrastructure, oil and gas, telecommunications, chemical, manufacturing, cement, agro-processing, maritime, and logistics sectors in Africa.

As stated on the subisidary companies' websites:

GDIZ is a public-private partnership between the Republic of Benin and ARISE IIP. Arise IIP has signed a public-private partnership with the Beninese government to design, finance and operate the Glo-Djigbé Industrial Zone (GDIZ). Arise IIP supports the entire investment of 1.5 billion USD for the construction of the industrial zone.

PIA is a vertically integrated industrial zone, focused at creating thriving value chains for storage, processing, manufacturing, and export. Strategically located on the backbone of Lomé – Burkina industrial corridor, PIA offers the best entry to the ECOWAS and landlocked region of West Africa. PIA will be a special economic area for local and foreign investors, replete with an advantageous tax regime, modern infrastructure and integrated multimodal logistics services. PIA is a public-private partnership between the Republic of Togo and Arise Integrated Industrial Platforms.

The Plateformes Industrielles du Congo (PIC) is a Public Private Partnership between the Republic of Congo Government (30%) and Arise IIP (70%) focused on the strategic development of the Congolese economy.

Private Actor 1 Private Actor 1 Role Private Actor 1 Sector Relation Private Actor 2 Private Actor 2 Role Private Actor 2 Sector
Africa Finance Corporation Parent Company Finance owns ARISE Integrated Industrial Platforms Ltd. Client Industry and Trade
Africa Transformation and Industrialization Fund Investor Finance invests in ARISE Integrated Industrial Platforms Ltd. Client Industry and Trade
ARISE Integrated Industrial Platforms Ltd. Client Industry and Trade owns Glo-Djigbé Industrial Zone Subsidiary Industry and Trade
ARISE Integrated Industrial Platforms Ltd. Client Industry and Trade owns Plateforme Industrielle d’Adétikopé Subsidiary Industry and Trade
ARISE Integrated Industrial Platforms Ltd. Client Industry and Trade owns Plateformes Industrielles du Congo Subsidiary Industry and Trade

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.

General IFC Inquiries - IFC Communications:

Address: 2121 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington DC 20433
Telephone: +1 202-473-3800
Fax: +1 202-974-4384

Client - ARISE Integrated Industrial Platform Ltd:

Sanjay Dey - Head, Project Finance
Email: Sanjay.dey@arisenet.com
Website: www.ariseiip.com

Local access for project documentation:

Unit N1203 – Level 12 – Emirates Financial Towers | Dubai International Financial Centre DIFC, PO Box 507176  – Dubai (UAE).

Subsidiaries -

Plateformes Industrielles du Congo:

Address: Avenue Charles de Gaulle, Immeuble Rakoto, Centre-Ville, Pointe-Noire
Email: pic-roc@arisenet.com
Website: https://pic-roc.com/en/

Plateforme Industrielle d’Adétikopé:

Website: https://pia-togo.com/

Cherrie Dai -General Manager, Marketing
Phone: +228 92 77 50 58
Email: lanlan.dai@arisenet.com

Pascaline Berwa Ndayambaje - Manager, Business Development
Phone: +228 70 99 26 97
Email: berwa.ndayambaje@arisenet.com

Messan Akakpovi - Manager, Marketing
Phone: +228 70 79 08 34
Email: messan.akakpovi@arisenet.com

Glo-Djigbé Industrial Zone:

Address: Block C/SB, District Tangbo-Djèvié, Plot F-1, Benin State
Email: gdiz-benin@arisenet.com
Phone: +229 53 04 67 22 / +229 67 77 94 94
Website: https://gdiz-benin.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

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