Early Warning System

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

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 19, 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

Amethis Investment Fund Manager S.A.

A public entity (government or state-owned) provided with funds or financial support to manage and/or implement a project.

Sectors

Education and Health
Finance
Industry and Trade

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)

$ 43.67 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 40
Converted using 2023-04-11 exchange rate.

Project Cost (USD)

$ 491.24 million

Other Related Projects

Primary Source

Original disclosure @ IFC website

Updated in EWS Apr 19, 2023

Disclosed by Bank Apr 11, 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 is an equity investment of up to €40 million into Amethis Fund III (Fund III or the Fund), a pan-African private equity fund, and a €30 million co-investment envelope. The Fund is targeting to raise €450 million to pursue growth capital and buyout investments in 10-12 mid-cap companies across Africa. The Fund will invest in various sectors including healthcare, non-banking financial institutions & services, business services (including logistics & IT), manufacturing and distribution. Fund III is a successor Fund to Amethis Fund II, a 2018 vintage with total commitments of €375 million, and Amethis Fund I, a 2012 vintage with total commitments of €275 million.
The Fund is a SICAR S.C.A. registered under the laws of Luxemburg. The Fund Manager has offices in Cote d’Ivoire, Kenya, Morocco, Egypt, Paris and Luxembourg.

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 IFC categorized the project as FI-2.

Investment Description

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

International Finance Corporation (IFC)

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.

Amethis Investment Fund Manager S.A. (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.

As stated by the IFC, the Fund will be managed by a Luxembourg general partner: Amethis Fund III Management S.à.r.l..
The Fund Manager is co-led by Luc Rigouzzo and Laurent Demey.

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: 202-473-3800
Fax: 202-974-4384

Amethis Investment Fund Manager S.A.:

Luc Rigouzzo - Managing Partner
Phone: +33 (0) 1 56 68 85 60
Email: luc.rigouzzo@amethisfinance.com
Website: www.amethisfinance.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