Yaatra Ventures and SIR Partner to Build New Oil Refinery Costing $5.1B
On 14 May 2025, Yaatra Ventures and Societe Ivoirienne de Raffinage (SIR) signed an MoU to build a oil refinery in Cote d’Ivoire during the AmCham Business Summit in Abidjan. The project is expected to cost FCFA 3 trillion ($5.1B) and will double the national refining capacity.
In his speech, Ivoirian Minister of Petroleum Mamadou Sangafowa highlighted the benefits of the partnership and project. By refining oil locally, it will cut down the import bill and leave more foreign currency in the national reserves, not to mention the numerous jobs the construction and operation of the refinery will create.
The deal comes only weeks after Minister Sangafowa led a delegation to the US and met with Yaatra. In April, SIR Director of Development revealed plan for the state-owned enterprise (SOE) to build a new refinery. It will be the second refinery in the country and is designed with a capacity of 170,000 barrels per day (bpd).
Other than the refinery deal, Valco Energy also signed an MoU to develop two oil blocks in partnership with national company PetroCI. Another agreement was between Sun Africa and the Government of Cote d’Ivoire to raise FCFA 700 billion to develop renewable energy projects and upgrade the national electricity grid.