IFC accords $150m loan to Olam to boost palm oil production in Gabon

The World Bank’s private sector financing arm, International Finance Corporation (IFC), has provided a credit package of $150 to Olam Palm Gabon, the subsidiary of Singapore-based Olam International, to boost the company’s production of palm oil in the central African country.
The loan, Gabon Review reports, will be used in the construction of a biodiesel plant and a palm oil refinery at the port of Owendo.
In addition, the company plans to use a chunk of the financing to build a fourth plant in Mouila, southern Gabon, as well as a crude palm oil processing plant in Lambaréné. Another part will be used to maintain Olam’s existing facilities in Gabon, including palm oil plantations covering 63,330 hectares, three palm oil mills, kernel crushing plants and a crude palm oil refinery (CPO), as well as all ancillary facilities such as the Awala biogas cogeneration plant.
Olam Palm Gabon also argues that the credit also is accompanied by non-financial support to promote the sustainable management of biodiversity and forestry in Gabon.
The company is a joint venture between Olam International (60 per cent) and the Gabonese government (40 per cent).
The loan heralds the return of IFC in the palm oil industry. IFC suspended investments in palm oil businesses in 2009, Devdiscours reports, after review of its practices in the sector following complaints by small land-holder and indigenous groups in Indonesia about its investments in projects by major palm oil producer Wilmar International.
An independent assessment at the time found that IFC had lacked a strategy for dealing with widespread social, environmental and governance problems in Indonesia’s palm oil sector and had failed to properly evaluate the projects, the development organization says.