The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Mobile Systems International Cellular Investments Holdings BV (MSICIH), a Netherlands based holding company with mobile cellular operating subsidiaries primarily in Africa. The company was launched in 1998 and currently has controlling stakes in 11 African cellular operations comprising of: - a 90% stake in Celtel Uganda; - an 80% stake in Celtel Zambia Limited; - a 100% stake in Celtel Democratic Republic of Congo; - a 100% stake in Celtel Sierra Leone; - an 80% stake in Celtel Malawi Limited; - a 70% stake in Celtel Niger; - a 87% stake in Celtel Republic of Congo; - an 80% stake in Celtel Gabon; - a 100% stake in Celtel Burkina Faso; - a 100% stake in Celtel Chad; - a 39% stake and management control in Mobitel, Sudan; and - a 35% stake and management control in Tanzania Telecommunications Company Limited, the wireline operator of Tanzania. In addition, the company also holds the following:  - a 4.8% stake in Peoples Telephone Company Limited in Hong Kong; - a 5.6% stake in Misrfone Telecommunications Company in Egypt; and - a 9.5% stake in Sudan Telecommunications Company, the wireline operator in Sudan.

The total project cost is estimated at $50.7 million. The proposed IFC investment is a $20 million A Loan for IFC’s account. The remaining $30.7 million of the project cost will be funded by internal cash generation.

20.0 million (USD)

Product Line	IFC Investment (million USD)
Risk Management
Guarantee
Loan	20.0
Equity

* These investment figures are indicative

The project is located in the Democratic Republic of Congo, with company headquarters in Kinshasa. The company will expand its operations in its existing areas of operations, as well as increase coverage to new urban areas including, Kisangani, Goma and Bukavu.

As a condition of the equity investment made by IFC in MSICIH in November 1999, MSICIH agreed to and has developed an Environmental and Social Management Plan (ESMP), which it is implementing throughout its operations. MSICIH also agreed to complete a Fire and Life Safety Review, as well as design, build and operate future operations in compliance with

- mitigation programs and monitoring plans contained in environmental and social documents;
- all pertinent national legislation and local standards; and
- World Bank Group policies and guidelines.

Celtel DRC’s Board of Directors has adopted the corporate ESMP, and the status of implementation of this and other issues was reviewed on appraisal. Presently, IFC Against Aids is working with MSICIH to implement a corporate approach to HIV/AIDs, which is being developed in selected country operations as a pilot and will be adopted over time throughout all the MSICIH operations.
Location of environmental documents in locally affected community
The environmental documents and ERS for this project are made available in the following locations in the Democratic Republic of Congo: - Bibliothéque Nationale, Boulevard Tshatshi, Commune de Gombe, Kinshasa, RDC; - Université Protestante Croisement av 24 Novembre et Victoire, Commune de Lingwala, Kinshasa, RDC; and - Celtel DRC’s corporate headquarters, located at Immeuble Immo-Invest, à l'angle de l'av. ex-Baron Jacques, av. du Bas-Zaire et av. de la Republique du Tchad, Commune de Gombe, Kinshasa, RDC.

This project will: - expand access to telecommunications services, as well as improve the quality of service being offered; - encourage competition leading to lower tariffs, and the introduction of new services; - improve the basic infrastructure required to promote further private sector development; and - promote additional investment and growth to other sectors in the Democratic Republic of Congo through the demonstration effect. IFC’s role in the project is firstly to support a current client and expansion of an existing project with funding that is not available elsewhere, and secondly, to finance the extension of the network to provide access to the people and businesses of the DRC, which currently have inadequate, or in some cases, no telecommunications service. The DRC has been gradually emerging from a decade of political instability and conflict which have taken a heavy toll on the country and its 55 million people.