High-quality infrastructure in Rwanda

Duval Group is a French family-owned company founded in 1994. Since its inception, Duval has gradually diversified throughout the real estate value chain, as well as in the tourism sector. At year-end 2022, the Group had a turnover of EUR 810m and about 5,000 employees. 

For the past few years, Duval has been focusing its international development strategy on Africa, mainly targeting Sub-Saharan Africa. The Group is deploying its operations there in the sectors of real estate, mass-market retailing, microfinance, and hydraulic drilling. Duval has already launched the development of several major projects with high added value in Africa, including the renovation of Tour First in Abidjan which was completed in 2022. It was the Group’s first project financed by Proparco.

Proparco has allocated a senior debt of USD 17.5m to Duval Great Lakes Ltd. Alongside IFC, this financing (for a total amount of USD 35m and a total project cost of USD 71m) will finance the construction and operation of Inzovu Mall, the mixed-use real estate complex in Kigali (25,326 m2). This project is developed and operated by Duval Group, which will be its majority shareholder. It will offer a shopping and leisure center, an apartment hotel, as well as a business center with offices and a co-working space. 

By developing retail space and the capacity for businesses and households in the Rwandan capital and targeting the highest environmental standards (IFC’s EDGE certification), it will increase the attractiveness of the Rwandan capital and the dynamism of its private sector.

The main expected impacts are the development of high-quality infrastructure in Africa and the creation of almost 700 local jobs. 

As the Inzovu Mall project targets EDGE certification, its financing fits in with the move to prioritize the fight against climate change.

The project will contribute to SDG  8 (“Decent work and economic growth”), SDG 11 (“Sustainable cities and communities”) and SDG 13 (“Climate action”).