IFC, Société Générale co-arrange $300m for Ivorian oil refinery

The International Finance Corporation (IFC) and France’s Société Générale have co-arranged a $300 million facility for Ivory Coast’s only oil refinery.

The facility is to help the refinery – Societe Ivoirienne de Raffinage (SIR) – guarantee a steady supply of critical energy imports for the country and its landlocked neighbours.

According to the IFC, both the Corporation and Société Générale will each participate with up to $100 million in the facility for SIR.

BNP Paribas and Standard Chartered Bank will also participate in the financing, the IFC said in a statement.

The SIR supplies effectively all of the refined petroleum products in Ivory Coast as well as Burkina Faso, Mali, and other countries in western Africa.

Officials said the structured trade facility will finance around $2 billion of oil imports over the next two years helping prevent interruptions in the fuel supply that could have a negative effect on Ivory Coast and its redevelopment.

By Ekow Quandzie