Two new financings for a total amount of 85 million euros, or more than 55.6 billion CFA francs, this was announced by Makhtar Diop, Director General of the International Finance Corporation (Ifc), during his visit to Senegal. This is to promote social and economic development and create jobs in the country’s tourism and manufacturing sectors.
The International Finance Corporation (Ifc) is committed to the national development program “Vision Senegal 2050”. In this sense, its Director General, Makhtar Diop, who concluded a four-day visit to Senegal, announced two new funding for projects aimed at promoting social and economic development as well as creating jobs in the sectors of the tourism and manufacturing industry of the country. According to a press release from the World Bank, this is a “green loan of 75 million euros, or a little more than 49.1 billion CFA francs, in favor of Sococim, one of the main integrated cement manufacturers in Senegal. The new financing from Ifc will support Sococim’s plan to modernize its operations, including the adoption of more efficient technologies and alternative fuels such as biomass. This initiative is expected to reduce the company’s greenhouse gas emissions by 312,000 tonnes of CO2 equivalent per year by 2030.
The second loan in the amount of 10 million euros, or more than 6.5 billion CFA francs, will be granted “to the Azalaï group, a leading hotel group in West Africa, to support the tourism sector in Senegal and beyond,” notes the document. Which specifies that this loan “will support the working capital needs of the Azalaï group as well as its regional expansion plans. These plans include the recently opened Hôtel Azalaï Dakar, the reconstruction of the Hôtel Azalaï Indépendant in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, and the refurbishment of the Grand Hôtel Bamako in Bamako, Mali. Ifc’s investment, supported by the Private Sector Window Blended Finance Facility of the International Development Association (IDA), will promote the creation of skilled direct and indirect formal jobs and stimulate the development of supply chains in target countries, particularly for SMEs.
“These projects highlight Ifc’s commitment to fostering sustainable economic growth and development in Senegal. By investing in key sectors such as tourism and manufacturing, Ifc and its partners are laying the foundations for a stronger and more resilient private sector. These projects illustrate our commitment to creating opportunities, improving living standards and promoting inclusive growth for the Senegalese people,” declared the CEO of this division of the World Bank group, quoted in the document.
As a global development institution, the Ifc supports the private sector in emerging countries. It thus, during its last financial year, “committed approximately 615 million US dollars in investments and by mobilizing resources in Senegal. Ifc’s ongoing investments in Senegal support vaccine production, digital infrastructure, tourism, housing, renewable energy, manufacturing and agricultural value chains.
