Project Name: Zambia:  Esquire Roses Farm Limited

Region: Sub-Saharan Africa

Sector: Floriculture

Project No: 009465

Projected Board June 30, 1999
Date:

Company Name: Esquire Roses Farm Limited

Technical Partner and/or Major Shareholders

The sponsors of the project are two brothers, Alpesh Patel (30) and Kalpesh Patel (27). They are Indian nationals with Zambian permanent residence. The main sponsor is Alpesh with a 98% shareholding. He is a mechanical engineer, who prior to moving into rose growing owned an engineering company specializing in the construction of greenhouses and packing shed material. Mr. Kalpesh Patel is also a qualified mechanical engineer who owns and runs a 30 hectare export vegetable project.

Project Cost Including proposed IFC investment

The project cost is US$930,000 and IFC has been requested to provide a loan of US$465,000.

Location of project and Description of site

The project is located on a 12-hectare plot in Makeni, 25km west of Lusaka, Zambia.

Description of Company and Purpose of Project

The project entails the expansion of an existing and successful export rose project from 2 to 4.5 hectares. The expansion will enable the project to benefit from production and marketing economies of scale, thereby significantly improving its margins.  Using own funds, the sponsors have already cleared the land and completed construction of the first additional half-hectare greenhouse. The roses will be sold primarily through the Dutch auction system.

Environmental Category and Issues

This is a category B project according to IFC’s environmental review procedure.  Key environmental health and safety issues associated with this project include source of water and impacts on other users of proposed irrigation scheme; source of power supply including on-site fuel storage, if applicable; storage, handling and application of agrochemicals; integrated pest management, disposal of solid and liquid wastes including sewage; CFC-free cold storage and air conditioning equipment; provision of employee personal protective equipment; employee health and safety training and monitoring; proper disposal of used pesticides containers; and fire protection and response.

The sponsors have provided IFC with details of the procedures and mitigation measures they intend to use to ensure that the project complies with all relevant World Bank Group guidelines.  Details of these procedures are provided in the Environmental Review Summary (ERS) for the project, which is expected to be available from the InfoShop on or about April 5, 1999.

Host Country location of
environmental documents: Environmental Council of Zambia,
Corner of Church and Suez Roads
Lusaka, Zambia
phone: 254130/1, 254146; fax: 254164

Date SPI sent to PIC: March 31st 1999

“This Summary of Project Information is prepared and distributed to the public in advance of consideration of the proposed transaction by the Corporations Board of Directors. It is provided for the purpose of enhancing the transparency of IFC’s activities and should not be construed as presuming the outcome of IFC Board consideration.”

For additional Information contact: Corporate Relations Unit -
telephone: (202) 473-7711
facsimile: (202) 974-4384
Environmental documents for this project are available at http://www.ifc.org and from the World Bank InfoShop (http://www.worldbank.org/html/pic/aboutinfo.html).