Africa Growing Together Fund provides EUR 33.6 million loan for Agro-Industrial Pole Project in the North of Ivory Coast (Linked to Umbrella Record ID#36104)

Project narrative

On May 22, 2014, the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the People's Bank of China (PBOC) signed an agreement for the Africa Growing Together Fund (AGTF) (see Umbrella Record ID#36104). The purpose of this $2 billion loan facility was to finance large development projects in Africa between 2014 and 2024. The AGTF is sponsored by the PBOC and the administered by AfDB. Then, on February 18, 2022, AGTF signed an EUR 33.6 million million loan agreement (ID#5050200001302) with the Government of Côte d'Ivoire for the Agro-Industrial Pole Project in the North of Ivory Coast (2PAI-NORD). On the same day, the African Development Bank (AfDB) issued two additional loans — an EUR 42 million loan (ID#2000200005162) and an EUR 12 million loan (ID#2100150042753) to the Government of Côte d'Ivoire for the same project. The borrowing terms of the AGTF loan is follows: an 25-year maturity, an 8-year grace period, an interest rate of EURIBOR plus a 1% margin, a 0.25% commitment fee, and a 0.25% upfront (management) fee. The project has four components: (a) Support to the private sector and institutions in charge of agro-industrial development; (b) Strengthening of agro-sylvo-pastoral and fisheries value added and marketing; (c) Sustainable improvement of agro-pastoral and fisheries productivity; and (d) Coordination, management and monitoring and evaluation. The overall objective of the project is to help increase the country's food and nutrition security, reduce its dependence on food imports and increase exports of agricultural products that have a competitive advantage. The specific objectives are to: (i) increase private investment, particularly in the processing of targeted agricultural products (rice, maize, meat/fish, cashew nuts, mango and shea); (ii) facilitate access to markets for agro-pastoralists by providing infrastructure, structuring the sector and building capacity; (iii) increase the agro-pastoral sector’s productivity by upgrading hydro-agricultural facilities, facilitating access to agricultural inputs and services, and improving community resilience. The Government of Côte d'Ivoire is responsible for implementation. As of December 2023, three disbursements supporting 12.73% of the project cost had taken place but project implementation had not yet began. The project’s originally scheduled commencement and completion dates were February 18, 2022 and December 31, 2026, respectively. However, project implementation was rescheduled to commence in January 2024 following the implementation of the Resettlement Action Plan (RAP).