Axian Comoros II & Tanzania (IFC-49849)

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
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 17, 2024
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
Telecom Comores SA; Honora Tanzania Plc
A public entity (government or state-owned) provided with funds or financial support to manage and/or implement a project.
Sectors
  • Communications
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)
$ 126.41 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)
$ 137.40 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 Mar 17, 2025

Disclosed by Bank Nov 19, 2024

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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.

According to the Bank’s website, the proposed investment is for a senior secured loan of up to EUR25million (c.US$27.2million) to Telecom Comores SA (“TelCo”) and a senior secured loan of up to US$100million (TZS linked) to Honora Tanzania Plc (“Honora” or “Tigo Tanzania”), two mobile network operators (MNO), subsidiaries of Axian Telecom, an existing IFC client. The proceeds of the proposed IFC financing would be used for (i) financing capital expenditure and refinancing existing loans for Honora; (ii) TelCo’s mobile operations expansion program in Comoros through 2024-2026.

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.

This is a Category B project according to IFC's Policy on Environment and Social Sustainability (2012) because it has potential limited adverse E&S risks and/or impacts that are few in number, generally site-specific, largely reversible, and readily addressed through mitigation measures. Key E&S aspects identified during the appraisal are: (i) the subsidiaries’ ESMS to manage the network expansion process; (ii) ongoing implementation of the existing ‘E&S risk screening’ procedure, particularly regarding potential biodiversity impacts related to tower construction activities, (iii) implementation of fair and safe labor and working conditions for direct and contract workers; (iv) adequate monitoring and management of third-party service providers; (v) electronic waste management; (vi) stakeholder engagement and grievance management, and (vii) implementation of security management protocols and procedures.

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

The total Project cost is estimated at US$137.4 million, to be financed with a combination of debt and internal cash generation. The proposed IFC investment is in the form of debt consisting of (i) A Loan of up to EUR25 million (c.US$27.2 million) to TelCo, and (ii) A Loan of to US$100 million (TZS linked) to Honora.

IFC's Investment as Approved by the Board: Loan 126.41 million (USD)

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.

TelCo is an MNO and mobile financial services provider that began commercial operations in Comoros in December 2016 as the second and only private MNO in Comoros.

Honora was acquired by Axian in 2022 and operates as an MNO and mobile financial services provider in Tanzania.

Axian Telecom is an established operator in the regional (Africa and Indian Ocean) telecoms industry since 2004, with operations in the mobile, mobile financial services, broadband (retail, wholesale and submarine cables) and tower infrastructure sharing services. Axian operates in nine countries, including La Reunion & Mayotte, Comoros, Senegal, Madagascar, Togo, Uganda, Tanzania and DRC. Axian holds a 100% ownership stake in TelCo and 78.4% of Honora, while Next Telco Ltd owns 19.6% and the Government of Zanzibar owns 2%.

Private Actor 1 Private Actor 1 Role Private Actor 1 Sector Relation Private Actor 2 Private Actor 2 Role Private Actor 2 Sector
- - - - Axian Telecom Parent Company -
- - - - Honora Tanzania Plc (TIGO) Client -
- - - - Telecom Comores SA 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.

Axian Telecom
Nicolas Sylvestre-Boncheval
Group Chief Financial Officer

nicolas.sylvestre@axian-group.com
10th Floor, Standard Chartered Tower, 19 Cybercity, Ebene, Mauritius
https://www.axian-telecom.com/en/homepage/

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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