📋 Tender Overview
Project Number
50266
Company Name
CSCHEM Limited
Date ESRS Disclosed
May 19, 2025
Country
Nigeria
Region
Africa
Last Updated Date
Environmental Category
B
Status
Pending Approval
Sector
Soap and Cleaning Compound (Soap, Detergent, etc.)
Industry
Manufacturing
Department
Regional Industry - MAS Africa
Project Description
The proposed investment is a US$25m A loan with a 7-year tenor and a 2.5-year grace period to CSCHEM Limited U.K. (CS Chemicals or the Group), aimed at expanding its manufacturing operations for chemicals and additives in home and laundry care segments in Nigeria. Estimated project cost is ~US$61m proposed to be financed with US$16m internal cash generation and up to US$45 million in debt, including proposed IFC loan and US$20m equivalent local currency debt from the Bank of Industry (BOI), Nigeria. CSCHEM Limited (HoldCo) has two operating companies (OpCo), SIL Chemicals Limited (SIL) and Reliance Chemical Products Limited (RCPL), which are involved in manufacturing and selling chemical products and trading detergent chemicals in Nigeria.
The project includes: (a) Expanding the sulphonation plant (LABSA plant) to increase production capacity by 39,600 metric tons per annum (MTPA) of Linear Alkyl Benzene Sulphonic Acid (LABSA), raising the existing capacity by 30% from 135,079 to 174,679 MTPA. LABSA is a crucial raw material used in detergent manufacturing, and this expansion will help meet the growing demand in Nigeria, significantly reducing reliance on imported LABSA. The LABSA plant expansion will cost approximately $23.5 million and will be undertaken by RCPL; (b) Installing a new regenerative furnace (sodium silicate plant) with a capacity of 2x60 metric tons per day (MTPD) to produce sodium silicate solid, a widely used chemical in industrial applications such as detergents, adhesives, and paper products. This new plant will cost $33.7 million and will increase production capacity by 21,000 MTPA, bringing the total capacity across its Agbara and Ikorodu sites to 70,825 MTPA. This expansion will also be undertaken by RCPL.
Overview of IFC's Scope of Review
The review included (i) physical meetings between the IFC Environment and Social (E&S) specialists and the company’s Head of Manufacturing/General Manager in Agbara and Ikorudu facilities, Health Safety & Environment Coordinator, Audit and Compliance Officer and Human Resource (HR) Officer in the Ikorodu facility in November 2024; (ii) a document review of the company’s E&S and HR policies, plans and procedures and responses to IFC’s E&S questionnaire, (iii) a tour of the production facilities in Agbara and Ikorodu in November 2024 and follow-up virtual interviews in January 2025 with financial, operational, legal, and project E&S team-members.
