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Biovea
During the visit to Côte d’Ivoire by Mr. Jean-Yves Le Drian, the French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, Proparco and the Emerging Africa Infrastructure Fund (EAIF) have closed a 165M EUR project finance deal and 13M EUR grant to secure the financing of Biovea project in Ivory Coast, which will be the first biomass power plant with grid injection in Africa.

The loans are granted by Proparco, the private sector financing arm of Agence française de développement (AFD) Group, and the Emerging Africa Instructure Fund to Biovea Energie, which was the winner of the 25-year concession to design, build, operate and transfer the 46MW biomass plant.

Biovea Energie is incorporated in Ivory Coast and is sponsored by EDF (Electricité De France), Meridiam, and Biokala, a joint venture set up between Meridiam and SIFCA*, a major agro-industrial player in West Africa. EAIF - a Private Infrastructure Development Group (PIDG) Company - is managed by Ninety-One.

EAIF’s contribution to the deal is around 30m EUR of debt and PIDG Technical Assistance provided an 8m EUR Viability Gap Funding grant, while Proparco commits 140m EUR of blended financing made of 135 mln EUR at a concessional margin and a 5m EUR Viability Gap Funding grant.

The power plant will be supplied with circa 450k tons of palm trees waste thanks to a long term fuel supply agreement signed with PalmCi a subsidiary of SIFCA. Palmci will source 30% of the biomass needed for the plant from its own existing industrial palm oil plantations and 70% from outgrowers.

The project will help to create 500 jobs during the construction period and more than 1,000 jobs or full-time equivalent during the operating period. 70% of biomass will be supplied by local small holder farmers who are expected to realize an average income increase of 20%. 12,000 are currently in the company’s supply chain.  It is estimated that the Biovea project will also permit to avoid the emission of c.340 thousand tons of CO2 equivalent per year once operational.

Grégory Clemente, CEO of Proparco noted “BIOVEA is an innovative renewable energy project which brings Ivory Coast further on a virtuous climate trajectory as per Paris Agreement commitments and contributes to the development of a sustainable agricultural supply chain and energy production using local fuel. Proparco is extremely proud to have accompanied EDF, Meridiam and SIFCA, 3 clients with which we have a long history of cooperation in the development and blended financing of this project from the very beginning. This project will contribute to job creation and revenue increase of households in rural areas as well as important CO2 emissions avoidance”.

 

* In 2018, a EUR 90m loan was allocated by Proparco (lead arranger), FMO - its Dutch counterpart - and Société Générale, to SIFCA in order to finance the agricultural investments of its subsidiaries and contribute to the economic and social development of the region. 

Media contacts

Proparco: Florence Priolet : presse@proparco.fr

EAIF: Martin Roche: martinroche55@gmail.com - +44 (0)771 574 9621

PIDG; Cecilie Sorhus: Cecilie.Sorhus@pidg - +44 (0)7917 302724

Ninety One: Kotie Basson: kotie.basson@ninetyone.com - +27 21 416 1812

 

About EAIF

The Emerging Africa Infrastructure Fund is a member of the Private Infrastructure Development Group (PIDG). EAIF provides a variety of debt products to infrastructure projects promoted mainly by private sector businesses in Africa and parts of the Levant. Lending from $15 million up to $100 million, the Fund mobilises private sector capital for investment in new infrastructure across Africa.  Its core objective is to promote economic development, leading to sustained economic stability, greater business confidence, job creation and poverty reduction.  It has to date supported over 80 completed infrastructure projects across 10 sectors. It has backed projects located in 18 African countries, though the Funds impact extends to many parts of the continent. This is most notably the case in the digital and telecommunications, ports and energy sectors. EAIF was established and substantially funded by the governments of the United Kingdom, The Netherlands, Switzerland, and Sweden. It raises its debt capital from public and private sources, including Allianz Global Investors, the global insurance and financial services company; Standard Chartered Bank; the African Development Bank; the German development finance institution, KFW,and FMO, the Dutch development bank. EAIF is managed by Ninety One. www.eaif.com