The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank Group approved on 13 July 2026 a loan of €200 million to finance the Clean Air project, carried out by Côte d’Ivoire’s Société Ivoirienne de Raffinage. The project includes the design, construction, and commissioning of a diesel hydrodesulfurisation complex within SIR, strategic infrastructure that will strengthen the refinery’s capacity to produce ultra-low-sulfur diesel meeting international environmental standards.
With a total estimated project cost of €833 million, the Clean Air project will be financed by a consortium of development financial institutions and partners. As mandated lead arranger, the African Development Bank will play a central role in structuring the financing and mobilising additional resources for the operation. The commissioning of the new hydrodesulfurisation complex is planned for 2029.
The project extends well beyond Côte d’Ivoire’s borders. It will strengthen the energy security of several neighbouring landlocked countries, notably Mali and Burkina Faso, which partly source refined petroleum products from SIR. It will also help preserve the competitiveness of one of the largest working refineries in West Africa, amid tightening regional and international environmental requirements.
Kevin Kariuki, the AfDB’s Vice President for Power, Energy, Climate and Green Growth, framed the investment’s dual purpose clearly: “By enabling Côte d’Ivoire to produce ultra-low-sulfur fuels, the Clean Air project combines industrial modernisation and climate action, while improving public health across West Africa. The African Development Bank is proud to support this transformation, which will help make cities cleaner, improve vehicle engine efficiency, and preserve the competitiveness of Côte d’Ivoire’s fuel industry.”
The approval is part of a sustained pattern of AfDB investment in Côte d’Ivoire’s energy and industrial infrastructure. Founded in 1962, SIR handles the refining of crude oil and the distribution of petroleum products in Côte d’Ivoire and internationally. Its modernisation into a producer of ultra-low-sulfur fuels positions it at the centre of a regional transition toward cleaner petroleum products, at a moment when the Middle East conflict is underscoring how consequential energy supply security is for import-dependent economies across West Africa.
For the continent, the Clean Air project also represents a model for how development finance can bridge industrial modernisation and climate action simultaneously, rather than treating them as competing priorities. Cleaner fuels, more efficient vehicle engines, and reduced urban air pollution are environmental outcomes. Energy security for Mali and Burkina Faso is a geopolitical one. The €200 million loan addresses both with the same investment.
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