Zalagh’s main shareholders (the Sponsors) are the Chaouni family from Morocco.

The Project is mainly financed via IFC’s equity investment of up to US$24 million, and via local bank loans.

24.0 million (USD)

Product Line	IFC Investment (million USD)
Risk Management
Guarantee
Loan
Equity	24.0

* These investment figures are indicative

The Project will be located throughout the main poultry production regions of the country, across the key Casablanca - Fès corridor.

Development impact includes:

(1) Employment generation, including gender: Zalagh plays a critical role in the generation of employment in Morocco particularly, in rural areas. The current 1,718 positions (of which 390 female employees) comprise a wide range of skill levels, from entry level positions to highly-skilled engineering, veterinary and managerial positions. All employees have access to dedicated training opportunities that allow them to strengthen their skills and develop within the organization. Zalagh''s expansion is expected to increase employment to around 1,900 by 2017, which will provide direct employment opportunities, particularly to the skilled youth who suffer from relatively higher levels and longer durations of unemployment in Morocco.

(2) Non-farm MSME linkages: as part of its operations, the Company also maintains relationships with a network of service MSMEs providing personnel, security, safety, transportation, recycling and waste disposal services, thus extending the employment reach of the Company well beyond its direct employees.

(3) Economic opportunities in rural areas: as one of the leading providers of animal feed and poultry products in the country, Zalagh supports the economic activity of about 3,845 registered poultry farmers, including some contract outgrowers, and a large number of dairy and cattle farmers. Zalagh provides a range of services to its clients that include regular visits by its sales force, technical assistance, benchmarking of performance against standards, etc.

Through the proposed investment, IFC will support an emerging leader in the Moroccan agribusiness sector by providing an equity infusion that will: (i) provide a stamp of approval to the capital markets, reinforcing Zalagh Holding''s image in the market; and (ii) lower the Company''s leverage and enhance its capital structure, thereby establishing a solid base for continued growth.

The proposed investment is expected to have limited environmental and social impacts. Those impacts are site-specific and temporary, with none of them considered as significant. They can also be avoided or mitigated by adhering to recognized performance standards, procedures, guidelines and design criteria as described in the following sections. Thus, this is a Category B project in accordance with IFC’s Environmental and Social Sustainability Policy.

Please refer to the related Environmental and Social Review Summary (ESRS) document for this project.

Please refer to the Environmental and Social Action Plan (ESAP) tab in the related Environmental and Social Review Summary (ESRS) document for this project.