Companhia de Sena S.A.R.L.
MIGA has issued two guarantees totaling $22.1 million to Mauritius Commercial Bank Limited, covering senior and mezzanine loans that it has taken over from the original guarantee holder, Sena Development Limited. The loans are for a sugar plantation project in Mozambique. The guarantees are for a period of ten years and cover against the risks of currency transfer restriction, expropriation, and war and civil disturbance.
The amended contracts replace contracts signed between MIGA and Sena Development Limited for loans extended to Companhia de Sena S.A.R.L. in 2001. The modification of the earlier contracts reflects the assignment to Mauritius Commercial Bank Limited of the loans granted by Sena Development Limited to Companhia de Sena S.a.r.l.
The project involves the rehabilitation of Mozambique’s largest sugar estate. It employs 6,000 people on a permanent basis, as well as 2,000 seasonal workers. It injects $7 million in annual salaries and wages into the local Marromeu economy, and contributes an estimated $33 million annually to the Mozambican economy via import substitution and export earnings.
The project addresses two of MIGA’s priority areas: an investment in an IDA-eligible country (among the world’s poorest) and in sub-Saharan Africa. MIGA’s participation in the project also complements the World Bank’s country assistance strategy for Mozambique, which supports the government’s poverty reduction strategy, and focuses on three areas: spurring broad-based economic growth by improving the business environment; improving the provision of services, particularly to the poor; and strengthening governance.