150.0 million (USD)

Product Line	IFC Investment (million USD)
Risk Management
Guarantee
Loan	150.0
Equity

* These investment figures are indicative

Main Project Level Development Impact: (i) Economy wide effects - Increased value added and job creation: The Project through the up- and down-stream linkages in expected to increase value added and create jobs. OPG currently has approximately 4,810 Gabonese employees on its payroll, with around one third of staff being female, making OPG the largest private sector employer in Gabon. Part of the job are taken up by villagers from the surrounding communities (about 10% of the workforce). The Project is also expected to create about 20,000 indirect jobs along the value chain in ancillary functions and services, and to stimulate the growth and professionalization of Gabon’s agriculture sector, alleviating Gabon’s significant reliance on food imports. (ii) Diversifying Gabonese economy away from fossil fuel/oil: The Project will contribute toward diversifying Gabonese economy by developing a sector with potential for long-term competitiveness and significant linkages throughout the rural economy. The Project will provide a new source of export revenue for Gabon away from fossil fuels which are declining in production volume and is particularly important to supporting the economy’s resilience to global movements in commodity prices. (iii) Stakeholders – Improved food security for consumers through increased access to palm oil: Domestic and regional consumers will benefit from improved access to a versatile oil which is used in a broad range of products, including edible oil uses. Edible oil, as one of the key food staples, accounts for a significant share of household expenditures amongst “Base of the Pyramid” consumers in the region. Competitive local production of palm oil would therefore contribute to Gabonese and regional food security. (iv) Stakeholders – increased access to palm oil markets: The Project is expected to expand offtake opportunities for smallholder oil palm farmers. The Project will onboard an additional 2,000 smallholders. Main Market Level Development Impact: (i) Competitiveness: The Project will significantly scale up Gabon’s palm oil production capacity and expand access to premium export markets. The production of RSPO-certified palm oil in Gabon may attract other responsible investors to the West and Central Africa region while increasing exports to other markets with stringent product standards. The implemented E&S standards are critical to the palm oil sector which is sensitive to E&S risks, especially those related to biodiversity, deforestation and social impacts including access to land. The efforts undertaken by the Project in this regard include participatory community mapping, use of Free, Prior, and Informed Consent negotiations with local communities, and concession management and planting schemes guided by High Conservation Value assessments which will result in the protection and rehabilitation of large tracts of forest, wetlands, and other natural habitat of high conservation value. As such, the Project can serve as a good practice demonstration example for other investors in Gabon and elsewhere in West and Central Africa, contributing to increasing competitiveness of the sector. (ii) Integration. The export orientation of the proposed investment may not only integrate Gabon into the regional and global palm oil value chains but also relieve some of the broader constraints and bottlenecks to trade, as Olam – via Gabon Special Economic Zone - has made significant investments in related logistics and infrastructure.

IFC can play a substantial role in developing the sustainable palm oil sector in Africa and in supporting the Gabonese economy to diversify away from crude oil. IFC’s additionality is as follows: Financial additionality: (i) Financing structure and resource mobilization: The financing package provided by IFC is tailored to the needs of the Project and the industry specifics. 12-14-year tenors (depending on the facility) that match the palm oil’s gestation cycle in this specific market can only be provided by IFC and other Development Finance Institutions participating in the syndication. Non-financial additionality: (ii) Standard setting: Appropriate management of E&S risks and issues is central to the sustainability of the sector and represents significant value addition from IFC which has dedicated substantial resources to design an appropriate framework to guide its palm oil engagements. IFC is planning to partner with the WBG to position this investment in the context of broader efforts to promote sustainable biodiversity/forestry management in Gabon as well as to promote employability/vocational training/human resource development in the country. This good practice example is particularly important in a high forest cover country like Gabon. (iii) Knowledge, innovation, and capacity building: IFC is exploring the provision of various value-adding Advisory Services.

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.