Orange Guinea and Guinea Bissau (MIGA-14394)

Countries
  • Guinea
  • Guinea-Bissau
Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.
Financial Institutions
  • Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA)
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
Aug 12, 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
Sonatel SA
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)
Guarantee
The categories of the bank investment: loan, grant, guarantee, technical assistance, advisory services, equity and fund.
Investment Amount (USD)
$ 476.16 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 433.7
Converted using 2023-08-02 exchange rate.
Bank Documents
Primary Source

Original disclosure @ MIGA website

Updated in EWS Aug 2, 2023

Disclosed by Bank Jul 12, 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.

According to the Bank’s website, this summary covers EUR 308.7 million equity investments from Sonatel SA of Senegal to Orange Guinea and Orange Guinea-Bissau (the "Project Companies"), including EUR 75 million future investments in Guinea. Sonatel SA has applied for MIGA guarantees to cover its equity investments for a guarantee period of up to six years in Guinea against the risks of Expropriation, War and Civil Disturbance and Transfer Restrictions & Currency Inconvertibility ("Sub-Project Guinea Conakry"); and against the risks of Expropriation and War and Civil Disturbance in Guinea-Bissau for a period of up to four years ("Sub-Project Guinea-Bissau"), together "The Projects".

The Projects will support the Sonatel Group in Guinea and Guinea-Bissau in the expansion of its network, equipment upgrade and renovation, introduction of new services, such as 4G/5G, and support for the expansion of mobile money and other digital financial products. As in most countries in the region, Guinea and Guinea-Bissau aim at increasing broadband internet access and availability of digital services, affordability and availability, as well as adoption of voice and messaging services. While Guinea and Guinea-Bissau's telecom markets have made progress in these areas, much remains to be done to increase access to broadband and digital services.

MIGA's proposed Gross Amounts of Guarantees will be up to EUR 254 million in Guinea and up to EUR 23.8 million in Guinea-Bissau. The revenues for these investments and future retained earnings will come from the Project Companies' cash flows generated from their telecom operations in these countries. Given that both Guinea and Guinea-Bissau are IDA-eligible countries, the Projects are expected to use IDA IFC-MIGA Private Sector Window/MIGA Guarantee Facility ("MGF") to mitigate project risks.

Investment Description
Here you can find a list of individual development financial institutions that finance the project.
Private Actor 1 Private Actor 1 Role Private Actor 1 Sector Relation Private Actor 2 Private Actor 2 Role Private Actor 2 Sector
- - - - Sonatel 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.

No contact information provided at the time of disclosure.

ACCESS TO INFORMATION

You can submit a request for information disclosure at: https://www.miga.org/contact/access_to_information

You can also request general information about MIGA and for information on guarantees by emailing: migainquiry@worldbank.org

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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How it works