45576 - GWFP ETG 2021

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Summary of Investment Information

Project Number

45576

Company Name

ETC GROUP

Date SPI Disclosed

Dec 19, 2022

Country

Africa Region

Region

Africa

Projected Board Date

Jan 18, 2023

Environmental Category

FI-2 - Limited

Status

Active

Last Updated Date

Oct 25, 2025

Department

Regional Industry - MAS Africa

Industry

Agribusiness and Forestry

Previous Events

Approved : Sep 21, 2010
Invested : Mar 10, 2023

Sector

Grains and Beans

Project Description

The proposed project involves the second renewal of the existing two funded risk sharing facility with Standard Chartered Bank (the “Bank” or “SCB”) for two trade finance facilities of up to US$234 million to support ETC Group (“ETG”) agri commodity trader’s export of cash and food grains, storage, and import of fertilizers in Sub-Saharan Africa. IFC’s investment amount will be up to US$40 million.

The Project will support the purchase, storage and sales of agri commodities and fertilizers in SSA countries such as Malawi, Benin, Kenya, Tanzania, etc. Commodities financed by the project are bought from mostly smallholder farmers in SSA and sold to wholesalers, cooperatives, NGOs and governments in various IDA countries and into the international market.

Associated Advisory Engagement

Sponsor / Cost / Location

Development Impact

The facility is expected to continue having the following development impacts: (i) support of commodity trade finance for importers/exporters in emerging markets; (ii) increased access to trade finance for critical commodities, especially in the agro-commodity sector in emerging market; and (ii) improved market integration by facilitating intra-regional and south-south trade for commodities and enhancing connectivity of real sector firms into value chains.

E&S Category Rationale / Risks and Mitigation

This project has been categorized as an FI-2 in accordance with IFC's Sustainability Policy. The proposed investment is a funded risk participation with Standard Chartered Bank (SCB) in a fully secured, syndicated secured commodity finance facility in favor of ETG to support the group’s export of cash and food grains, storage, and import of fertilizers. The environmental and social risks and impacts associated with these activities are considered limited and the overall project risk is thus considered medium. The identified applicable requirements for this project are the IFC Exclusion List, applicable E&S laws in the countries of import and export and the IFC Performance Standards. Use of proceeds, agreed with SCB, will only targeted commodities which are of low E&S risk from a IFC PS2/PS6 supply chain standpoint.

The main E&S risks and impacts derive from the capacity of SCB to assess and require adequate management of environmental and social risks associated with trade of various agri-commodities and fertilizers supported by this facility. Typically, they involve risks related to - social risks primarily related to agro-commodities supply chain such as harmful child labor and forced labor and biodiversity loss, waste management, and disposal of hazardous materials.

SCB has a well-established E&S policy and implementation procedures and position statements to mitigate E&S risks in its investments. For example, their requirements related to clients with respect to human rights can be found here: https://www.sc.com/en/sustainability/position-statements/human-rights/and those related to their investments in agri-business, including supply chains, can be found here: https://www.sc.com/en/sustainability/position-statements/agro-industries/.

ETG is an existing client of IFC. It has an Environmental and Social Management System (ESMS) outlining the procedures, roles and responsibilities, tools, monitoring and evaluation practices for undertaking E&S issues associated with its business activities. As part of its supply chain risk assessment and management, the obligor has systems in place to prevent harmful child labor and forced labor from its supply chain. SCB will be required to monitor implementation of the requirements set for commodities and trade finance of various grains and fertilizers covered by this facility.

Contacts

For Inquiries About the Project, Contact

Standard Chartered Bank
Nicolas Langlois
Global Head of Trade Distribution
+65 6596 4121
nicolas.langlois@sc.com
Boulevard, Level 22 (018981) Singapore
https://www.sc.com

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IFC supports its clients in addressing environmental and social issues arising from their business activities by requiring its real sector clients to set up and administer appropriate grievance mechanisms and/or procedures to address complaints from Affected Communities in relation to environmental and social issues arising from IFC's clients' business activities. Since 2012, IFC's Financial Intermediary clients applying the Performance Standards are required to develop External Communications Mechanisms to receive and review inquiries or complaints from any interested party regarding the E&S risks and impacts of their operations.

For IFC projects that are active or under consideration, individual(s), or their authorized representative(s), who allege they have been or will be adversely affected by E&S risks or impacts arising from IFC's clients' business activities, may submit a complaint to IFC directly for consideration. When receiving an E&S complaint, IFC engages with complainants and works with its clients to find solutions to E&S concerns as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Complaints can be submitted to IFC online at www.ifc.org/escomplaints or by email to EScomplaints@ifc.org.

IFC complaint response is separate from and complementary to IFC’s clients’ project level grievance mechanisms and IFC’s Independent Accountability Mechanism (CAO). Lodging a complaint directly with IFC does not, at any time, restrict access to CAO.

Affected communities have unrestricted access to the Compliance Advisor Ombudsman (CAO), the independent accountability mechanism for IFC and MIGA. CAO facilitates the resolution of complaints related to IFC and MIGA projects and sub-projects, undertakes reviews of IFC’s and MIGA’s environmental and social compliance, fosters public accountability for their commitments, and enhances the environmental and social performance of IFC and MIGA.

Independent of IFC and MIGA management and reporting directly to the IFC and MIGA Boards of Executive Directors, CAO helps resolve issues raised about the environmental and social impacts of projects through a neutral, collaborative, problem-solving approach via its Dispute Resolution function. It also reviews IFC’s and MIGA’s compliance with environmental and social policies, assesses related harm, and recommends remedial actions through its Compliance function. Additionally, CAO provides advice to IFC, MIGA, and their Boards to enhance environmental and social sustainability performance and minimize the risk of harm.

Complaints may relate to environmental and social harm regarding any aspect of the planning, implementation, or impact of a project or sub-project, and can be made by any individual, group, community, entity, or other party affected or likely to be affected by the environmental or social impacts of an IFC- or MIGA-financed business activity.

Complaints can be submitted by any of the following methods:

Online form: available at https://www.cao-ombudsman.org/
Mail/Hand Delivery to: 2121 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20433, USA
Voice mail: +1 202 458 1973
Email: cao@worldbankgroup.org
SMS, WhatsApp, Telegram, and Signal: +1 202 650 2627

CAO receives and addresses complaints in accordance with the CAO Policy, which can be accessed at: https://www.cao-ombudsman.org/policies-guidelines.

This Summary of Investment Information (SII) is prepared by IFC to disclose a factual summary of the main elements of the potential investment. It also includes findings and recommendations related to environmental and social considerations regarding this potential investment. The purpose of the SII is to enhance the transparency of IFC’s activities. For any project documentation or data included or attached herein, whether prepared by the project sponsor or otherwise, authorization has been given for public release by the project sponsor. IFC considers that this SII is of adequate quality for release to the public, but has not necessarily independently verified all of the project information therein. It is distributed in advance of IFC Board of Directors’ consideration and may be periodically updated thereafter. Board dates are estimates only and this document should not be construed as presuming the outcome of the Board Directors’ decision. The following SII is disclosed in accordance with IFC's Access to Information Policy (AIP) that went into effect on January 1, 2012.

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