Announcement of First IFC Investment in Upper Volta Five Hundred Thirty-Five Thousand US Dollars for Plastics Manufacture on October 26, 1978

• International Finance Corporation IFC Press Release No. 79/13 1818 H Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20433, U.S.A. 202-393-6360 Thursday, October 26, 1978 First IFC Investment in Upper Volta $535,000 for Plastics Manufacturer The International Finance Corporation (IFC) is making its first investment in Upper Volta by providing $405,000 in loan and $130,000 in equity for a $2.3 million expansion of Societe Voltaique de Plastique SARL, an established plastic products manufacturing company in Ouagadougou. The Company is jointly owned by local and Indian interests. It manufactures a variety of products including polyethylene packaging materials 9 PVC pipes and flexible plastic hoses, as well as producing finished polypropylene bags from imported woven fabric. • The expansion project will permit Societe Voltaique de Plastique to manu- facture its own polypropylene woven fabric -- four million meters (4.4 million yards) a year -- from imported pellets. The project will provide at reduced costs, reliable domestic source of bags which are widely used in business and agriculture; create 86 jobs, increasing the Company's total employment by 80 percent; and result in estimated annual foreign exchange savings of $850,000. The bulk of the output will be sold domestically, the remainder being for export to neighboring countries. Societe Voltaique de Plastique is owned by Upper Volta and Indian interests, including the Chellaram Group, an international industrial and trading organiza- tion of Indian origin. Upper Volta investors are providing $278,000 in equity and Indian investors, $150,000. Local bank loans of approximately $1,337,000 complete the project financing. IFC assisted the Company in shaping the financial plan for the project and in obtaining financing on suitable terms. It also helped in making arrangements for increasing domestic ownership of the Company by a public off·:~ring to Upper Volta nationals through local banks • • (Any inquiries strictly relating to IFC's participation in this project should be directed to the IFC Information Office, 1818 H Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20433, Telephone (202 477-5340.)