Robust International Group Nigeria (IFC-607429)

Countries
  • Nigeria
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
Approved
Stage of the project cycle. Stages vary by development bank and can include: pending, approval, implementation, and closed or completed.
Bank Risk Rating
U
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
Jan 18, 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
Robust International
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)
Advisory Services
The categories of the bank investment: loan, grant, guarantee, technical assistance, advisory services, equity and fund.
Investment Amount (USD)
$ 0.99 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)
$ 0.99 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.
Other Related Projects
Primary Source

Original disclosure @ IFC website

Updated in EWS May 14, 2024

Disclosed by Bank Apr 9, 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.

Robust International is a Singapore-based midscale agri-commodities trader. In Nigeria, Robust sources 40 percent of the commodities (Sesame, Cashew, Ginger, Gum Arabic, Pulses, Turmeric and Shea nuts) directly from 44,000 farmers and 60 percent from 40 Licensed Buying Agents, carries out primary processing (i.e., fumigation, sorting and hulling) before selling to consumers in China (53 percent), Vietnam (37 percent), Turkey (6 percent) and India (4 percent). Sesame accounts for 55 percent of Robust's operations. An IFC investment loan of $18M to Robust (Project #: 45225) supports its $26M capacity expansion program (including the construction of an integrated warehouse complex that has added 30,000 MT capacity to cater for drying and processing of sesame) and allows the company to increase direct sourcing from farmers by 20 percent.

An IFC Advisory Services project will help reduce the operational risks of the investment by (i)Training sesame farmers on Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) focusing on soil & water management technologies, and integrated pest management (IPM) practices, (ii) Building the capacities of license buying agents in record keeping and product traceability, and (iii) Exploring linking farmers to sources of good quality sesame seeds. The project will be implemented in two phases based on an incremental approach to ensure early wins and assess traction, as well as take into account learning that will inform later roll-out decisions. In Phase I, the project will be piloted in Kano State before rolling out into Bauchi and Jigawa States in Phase II.

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

Estimated Total Budget: $987,391.00

(Project budget includes all project-funded activities)

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.

Robust International is a Singapore-based midscale agri-commodities trader. In Nigeria, Robust sources 40 percent of the commodities (Sesame, Cashew, Ginger, Gum Arabic, Pulses, Turmeric and Shea nuts) directly from 44,000 farmers and 60 percent from 40 Licensed Buying Agents, carries out primary processing (i.e., fumigation, sorting and hulling) before selling to consumers in China (53 percent), Vietnam (37 percent), Turkey (6 percent) and India (4 percent).

Private Actor 1 Private Actor 1 Role Private Actor 1 Sector Relation Private Actor 2 Private Actor 2 Role Private Actor 2 Sector
- - - - Robust International Pte 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.

Robust International Pte Ltd
Vishanth Narayan
Executive Director
+65 62927316
ed@robust-international.com
#09-17 to 20, Singapore 238164
https://www.robust-international.com

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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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