CHO Tunisia III (IFC-47721)

Regions
  • Middle East and North Africa
Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.
Countries
  • Tunisia
Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.
Specific Location
Sfax, Beja, Gafsa, Bizerte, Kairouan
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
Dec 31, 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
CHO Company 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
The service or industry focus of the investment. A project can have several sectors.
Investment Type(s)
Equity
The categories of the bank investment: loan, grant, guarantee, technical assistance, advisory services, equity and fund.
Investment Amount (USD)
$ 25.00 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 @ IFC website

Updated in EWS Dec 1, 2023

Disclosed by Bank Oct 30, 2023

Contribute Information
Can you contribute information about this project?
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.

As stated by the IFC, the proposed Project of equity injection will enable CHO, while strengthening its balance sheet and reducing its costs, to continue implementing its strategic plan aiming to enhance its global market position and ensure and diversify sourcing of raw material beyond Tunisia.

Under this new investment, the Company aims to strengthen its global market position. Thus, CHO (i) has established a subsidiary in Morocco and is currently looking for local partnerships to strengthen its position in the market; (ii) will add c. 1,000ha to its plantations located in Tunisia, (iii) has the objective to reach 30kT of bottled olive oil by 2026, (iv) intends to open new exports markets (UK and Africa), and (v) rebalance its balance sheet.

The Project will be supported by IFC’s Advisory Services on three fronts already discussed with the Company: 1) Value Chain Farmers advisory (smallholders and mills to improve yields and quality), 2) Gender Edge Certification and 3) a Corporate Governance (CG) to help the Company strengthen its CG and raise its profile in view of a qualified IPO in the medium term.

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

As stated on the project disclosure page, this project is a proposed IFC investment of US$ 25 million for a 16.5% equity holding in CHO.
The project also includes the mobilization of up to US$50 million equity from co-investors.

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, CHO Group was established in 1996 and is a leading olive oil producer in Tunisia. The Company’s facilities are mainly located in the region of Sfax, Tunisia, and its destination markets span over 50 countries worldwide. CHO retains a workforce of over 950 employees.
CHO was created by three entrepreneurs, Mr. Abdelaziz Makhloufi, Mr. Moncef Rekik, and Mr. Abderazzak Tounsi. The original founders own directly or indirectly about 88.5 percent of shares. The remaining is held by SICAR Invest, part of the Banque Nationale Agricole Group.

Private Actor 1 Private Actor 1 Role Private Actor 1 Sector Relation Private Actor 2 Private Actor 2 Role Private Actor 2 Sector
Banque Nationale Agricole Investor Finance invests in CHO Company Client Agriculture and Forestry

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 - CHO Company Limited:

Rym Makhloufi - Deputy General Manager
Email: rym.makhloufi@cho.com.tn
Address: Mahdia Road, Km 18 Sfax, Tunisia
Website: www.group-cho.com

Local Access for Project Documentation:

Mohamed Walha - QHSE Director for CHO Group
Address: CHO Company, Mahdia Road km 18. Sfax Tunisia
Email: Walha.mohamed@cho.com.tn

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