Azalaï Abidjan Hotel

Project description

This summary covers an investment by Azalaï Hotels S.A. of Mali in Azalaï Abidjan Hotel in Côte d’Ivoire. The investor has applied for a MIGA guarantee of €6.1 million ($ 8.2 million equivalent) for a period of up to five years against the risks of transfer restriction, expropriation, and war and civil disturbance.[1]

The project consists of the development of a 180-room four-star business hotel in Abidjan. It will be developed under the recently created Compagnie Hôteliére de la Lagune S.A (CHL), a joint-venture that is 60 percent owned by Azalaï Hotels S.A. of Mali and 40 percent owned by SIFCOM, a part of the Sifca group in Côte d’Ivoire. The hotel will be located in a commercial district between the airport and downtown Abidjan. Construction is expected to be completed in 2015.

The total cost of the project is approximately €26.3 million, which will be financed with sponsor equity, local bank loans, and three development finance institutions: the International Finance Corporation, PROPARCO (France) and BIO (Belgium).

Environmental Categorization

The project is a category B under MIGA’s Policy on Social and Environmental Sustainability. Click here to view the Environmental and Social Review Summary (ESRS) prepared by the IFC. Since IFC’s original disclosure of the ESRS in March 2012, the project enterprise prepared an Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA), required by the Ivorian legislation. This ESIA identified potential environmental and social impacts and proposed mitigation measures, which are similar to those described in IFC’s ESRS. An environmental and social management system for the project (including environmental and social management plans) is currently being developed based on the framework presented in the ESIA.

Development Impact

The project will provide modern hotel facilities to meet the increasing volume of business travelers in the country. It will create employment for about 160 staff and contribute tax revenues and foreign exchange earnings.

The project is aligned with MIGA’s strategic priorities of supporting investments into fragile and conflict-affected countries and countries eligible for concessional lending from the International Development Association. It is also aligned with MIGA’s strategic priority of supporting South-South investments.

The project would be underwritten through MIGA’s Small Investment Program.

[1] The guarantee was cancelled on June 27, 2016