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Guinea: SOGUIPAL expands its yogurt production capacity with Proparco’s support
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In the presence of His Excellency Luc Briard, French Ambassador to Guinea, Proparco has granted a €5 million loan to Société Guinéenne de Produits Alimentaires (SOGUIPAL), one of the leading players in Guinea’s food processing industry. This financing will support the development of locally produced food products by enabling the company to significantly increase its yogurt production capacity.
Proparco’s financing will support a €7.2 million investment program aimed at expanding SOGUIPAL’s yogurt production facility in Coyah, on the outskirts of Conakry, and financing the working capital requirements associated with the increase in production. Beyond its financial support, Proparco is also helping SOGUIPAL strengthen its operational practices through a Technical Assistance program focusing on quality, health, safety and environmental (QHSE) issues.
French expertise supporting local production
The new production line will add 6 metric tons of yogurt per day, bringing the plant’s total production capacity to 15 metric tons per day. This expansion will enable SOGUIPAL to meet growing demand for high-quality, affordable, locally produced dairy products. It will also create 30 additional direct jobs, bringing the total workforce to 73 employees, alongside more than 1,500 indirect jobs. The project will also draw on French industrial expertise, with Tecnal supplying production equipment and Erca providing part of the packaging equipment.
Founded in 2011 by Guinean entrepreneur Ibrahima Diallo, SOGUIPAL is the agro-industrial subsidiary of the CCG (Comptoir Commercial Général) group. The company currently produces and packages yogurt, powdered milk, tomato paste, mayonnaise and margarine. Its products are marketed through an extensive distribution network spanning Guinea and several countries in the sub-region.
Strengthening food sovereignty
Through its “Best Yaourt” brand, SOGUIPAL has established a leading position in the Guinean market. In a dairy sector that remains heavily dependent on imports, the project will help develop local production capacity and strengthen Guinea’s agro-industrial value chain, particularly through improved cold chain management, a critical challenge in the sub-region. This expansion comes against a backdrop of strong economic growth in Guinea, notably driven by the Simandou project.
“This project marks another important milestone in SOGUIPAL’s development. Increasing our production capacity will enable us to meet growing demand for high-quality, locally produced products. We are delighted to have Proparco’s support as we embark on this new phase of growth. Beyond expanding our industrial facilities, this investment will strengthen our contribution to employment, local processing and the development of Guinea’s food processing industry,” said Ibrahima Diallo, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of SOGUIPAL.
“Through this financing, Proparco is supporting a Guinean entrepreneur who has gradually built a company into a leading industrial player in its market. Developing local food processing capacity is essential to strengthening the resilience of West African economies and reducing their dependence on imports of finished products. We are particularly pleased to support SOGUIPAL as it scales up its operations, with long-term financing tailored to its investment cycle,” said Sadio Dicko, Proparco’s Regional Director for West Africa.
This operation is part of Proparco’s “Growing SMEs” approach, designed to provide direct support to SMEs seeking to undertake major investments but struggling to secure financing suited to their growth projects. The transaction also falls under the FARM (Food and Agriculture Resilience Mission) initiative, spearheaded by the French Presidency, which aims to strengthen the resilience of agrifood value chains in the most vulnerable countries.