IFC proposes investment in cold chain platform

The IFC has proposed an investment to support the development of the IFRIA cold chain platform, which will pursue a mix of acquisitions and greenfield assets in the third party temperature-controlled logistics (TCL) sector across North and West Africa.

The first round of IFRIA pipeline will consist of (i) two brownfield ventures in Morocco: the acquisition of one bonded facility in the port of Tangier Med and of one other existing TCL operator in the Casablanca area and (ii) three greenfield ventures: one in Agadir (Morocco) and two in Senegal, comprising one bonded facility at the port of Dakar and another at an industrial park some distance from Dakar.

The IFRIA cold chain platform has been set up by four seasoned partners combining 50 years of operating experience of cold chain networks/development across multiple countries. IFRIA’s founders will own a minority share while the majority shareholder is the Sustainable Climate Fund (SCF), a global blended initiative funded by the Green Climate Fund and by multiple private investors. SCF is managed by Pegasus Capital, a global private markets impact investment manager and the first US private equity fund to be accredited by the Green Climate Fund.

The total costs to finance the first round of investments of the IFRIA cold chain platform is estimated to be equivalent to $69 million, of which about $40 million will be injected as equity with the rest being sourced as debt from institutions and funds.