WELCOME

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 Contents

Health and Safety Guidelines.....................................................................................4

Brief History of Plantations et Huileries du Congo .......................................5
Lokutu Site................................................................................................................................7
Boteka Site...............................................................................................................................8
YALIGIMBA Site.......................................................................................................................9
ESG Strategy of PHC.........................................................................................................10
PHC Healthcare Services...............................................................................................12
Community Development Program.....................................................................13
PHC Foundation..................................................................................................................15
PHC Awards...........................................................................................................................16
Oil Palm Harvesting..........................................................................................................17
CREATY.......................................................................................................................................19
STAFF HOUSING RENOVATION & CONSTRUCTION PROJECT ...................21
PHC ACADEMY ....................................................................................................................22
THE CONGO RIVER.............................................................................................................23

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HEALTH & SAFETY GUIDELINES

On the plantation site :

• There are risks of thorns, snake bites, and insect bites. Please wear close-
toed shoes.
• Please follow all instructions during your visit and stay on the paths.

At the palm oil mill :

• Before entering the mill area, you must wear all mandatory personal
protective equipment that will be provided to you.
• During the visit, please closely follow the guide and adhere to any of the
guide’s safety instructions.
• There are hot surfaces, steam, and electrical shock risks. Please do not
touch any equipment or surfaces without asking the guide.
• Use caution when going up and down stairs, and always use handrails.
• Wear close-toed and non-slip shoes on site to protect against falling on
slippery surfaces.

To protect the beautiful environment of Lokutu, we also ask that you dispose of
all trash in designated waste bins which will be available at all locations during
your stay.

In a general way, follow instructions given by the PHC team. If you have any
questions or concerns, don’t hesitate to ask us.

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Brief History of Plantations et
Huileries du Congo
Plantations et Huileries du Congo
(PHC) was established in 1911 by the
Lever Brothers (now Unilever) to supply
the company’s soap production
operations with palm oil. Albeit under
different names, PHC remained
operational throughout Belgian
colonial rule and DRC’s independence
in 1960.
By the 1970s, PHC was composed of
11 plantations and was a top global
palm oil producer, as well as a leading
innovator in oil palm seed variety
research.
The company’s operations suffered
from lack of investments during the
two Congo wars from 1996-2003,
contributing to several decades
of challenges for PHC including
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mismanagement, lack of Congolese
leadership in the company, and
tense relationships with surrounding
communities. With new investments
and new, Congolese-led leadership
in 2021, we are starting a new chapter
in PHC’s history, inspired by our vision
to create shared prosperity through
agribusiness.
Before independence, the DRC
enjoyed an enviable position as
a major producer and exporter
of palm oil on the international
stage, with a production of 200,000
tons per year. Over the years, this
position has declined. With the new
Congolese leadership put in place
by the majority shareholder Kuramo
Capital Management in 2021, PHC’s
production has increased from 42,000
tons to 80,000 tons per year in 2023.
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Lokutu Site
As our largest site, Lokutu is organized into 12 operating divisions, and is home
to 46% of our contract workers. Lokutu also houses PHC’s newly commissioned
palm oil mill, located in the Lokumete estate.

Founded in the 1920s, Lokutu is PHC’s biggest

plantation, with a total of 14,000 hectares.
Located about 250 km from Kisangani,
Lokutu is composed of 4 estates: lrumu,
Ngungu, Lokumete, and Mosite. Lokutu
accounts for approximately 41% of the
company’s workforce.

LOKUMETE MILL

PHC’s Lokutu site is home to Lokumete Mill,

where the company processes two main
products: crude palm oil (CPO) and palm
kernel oil (PKO). lnaugurated in February 2021,
Lokumete Mill is the largest and most modern
of PHC’s palm oil mills, with a production
capacity of 30 tons per hour.

Designed and built by a predominantly African team, Lokumete Mill is equipped

with the latest technology in palm oil processing, and is powered by a steam
turbine and a biomass boiler that recovers the mill’s waste as fuel.

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Boteka Site

Founded in the 1910s, Boteka is PHC’s smallest

and oldest plantation with a total of 3,600
hectares.
Boteka is composed of two estates,
Bofalamboka and Boteka, and represents
approximately 19% of the company’s
workforce.

BOTEKA MILL

PHC’s Boteka site is home to Boteka Mill,

where the company processes two main
products: crude palm oil (CPO) and palm
kernel oil (PKO). Rehabilitated in 2011, Boteka
Mill has a production capacity of 15 tons per
hour, and is powered by a steam turbine and
a biomass boiler that reuses the mill’s waste as fuel.

ln addition to generating renewable energy, the waste from Boteka Mill is

also transformed into fertilizers that are returned to the plantation to support
healthy oil palm growth.

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Yaligimba Site

Founded in the 1930s, Yaligimba is PHC’s

second biggest plantation, with a total of
12,000 hectares and accounts for about
39% of PHC’s workforce.

YALIGIMBA MILL

At Yaligimba, PHC operates the Yaligimba Mill,

where the company processes two main
products: crude palm oil (CPO) and palm
kernel oil (PKO). Rehabilitated in 2013,
Yaligimba Mill has a production capacity
of 30 tons per hour, and is powered by a steam
turbine and a biomass boiler that reuses the
mill’s waste as fuel.

ln addition to generating
green energy, the waste from Boteka Mill is also transformed into fertilizers that
are returned to the plantation to support healthy oil palm growth.

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ESG Strategy of PHC
Through it social clauses, PHC is committed to supporting local communities’
access to basic needs, especially as they relate to health, education, and water
access. Since the clauses were signed, PHC has founded the reconstruction of
thirty-two fully furnished schools, each with six classrooms and toilets.
Environmental and Social Governance (ESG)

The two main objectives of the company are :

• Become efficient and excel by maximizing productivity and minimizing

negative impacts;
• Create prosperity for all stakeholders.

It is around these two objectives that PHC’s new sustainability strategy was
developed in 2022 and entitled « Shared Prosperity and Sustainability Plan
(SPSP) ». The SPSP strategy contains requests from the ESAP established in 2020,
but it wants to go further to do more and be more robust and sustainable.

Axis 1- Sharing prosperity and aiming for a peaceful social climate

To support this axe, PHC has built is strategy around three main pillars :

–– Stakeholders’ engagement to maintain a continuous and transparent

dialogue with all stakeholders, respect PHC’s promises and respect the
rights of local communities and their land.

–– Supporting basic needs and community development through its

community development program and support for community health and
wash.

–– Employee well-being to ensure decent wages conditions and living

conditions for employees.

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Axis 2- Managing activities sustainably to mitigate impacts

This axe is built is around four main pillars :

–– A safe place to work and live with the improvement of the prevention and
limitation of risks for employees and population, with emergency and
accident procedures and a focus on personal protection for workers. This
pillar contains also actions regarding the record and the monitoring of
work accidents.

–– Mitigating operational impacts like managing waste properly, preserve

and monitor the water quality, limit all risks and especially chemical risks,
and optimizing energy efficiency to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

–– Land and natural resources management to preserve and enhance

natural resources like high value conservation areas and endangered
species.

–– Training, toolbox and inspections is a crosscutting pillar to increase and

monitor actions done by PHC regarding the environment and the health
and safety of populations.

Axis 3- Managing the business appropriately and ethically

–– Risk management approach: PHC ensure that all ESG risks are considered
in its activities through risk register and action plan and through strict
policies and procedures.

–– Compliance with laws and standards, it’s important for PHC to be compliant
with legal requirements but also with international standards like RSPO and
IFC, and promote an ethical conduct in its activities.

Business continuity is put in place through the record and the assessment of all
data from PHC to ensure a continuous improvement for the company.

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PHC Healthcare Services
PHC has established 4 physician-led hospitals across all of our operation sites
to provide care for our workers and their families. The hospitals are supported
by 4 health centers and 18 dispensaries. All healthcare services are provided
free of charge to our workers and their families—over 25,000 people.

In addition, PHC’s health services provide reliable medical care facilities for
communities living in and around all of our sites. PHC’s medical services are
often the only accessible, quality treatment option available for communities
in the rural areas where we operate.

We are also committed to supporting medical care capacity beyond our own
services: PHC’s medical facilities are often used to train young doctors and
nurses in the region.

A New Approach for Managing PHC’s Healthcare Services

Historically, PHC contracted a medical services firm to manage our medical

facility operations. Due to declining quality of care, PHC’s new management
took on direct management and operation of our medical facilities as of June
2021. Since then, there are increasing numbers of hospital visits and we have
received positive feedback from beneficiaries regarding the improvements.

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Community Development Program

Goal : Raise the standard of living for populations living in and around PHC’s
concessions through activities that support agricultural production and
safeguard the environment.

Pillars of the Strategy :

Food and Nutritional Agricultural Value Job Creation and

Security Chain Development Income Generation

Increase the Strengthen and Value and recognize

quantity and quality revitalize agricultural family labor in the
of food products product sectors; business plan;
available to
households; Identify areas of Promote jobs related
production to to production;
Decrease in food produce added
prices in markets; value; Generate tax
revenues.
Diet diversification. Establish a market
information system.

Community Development Activities : seeds to Community

To date, there are 93 Farmers
Organizations developed by PHC in the
three plantations, with more than 2,000
active members. With PHC support,
these groups are implementing a
variety of pilot projects that will build
the organizational capacities of these
groups in addition to supporting the
Livelihood Program’s goal to raise
standards of living. Some ongoing
pilot projects include :
Development Groups.
• Market gardening : Through this
pilot program, PHC is encouraging
household level production of
high value, highly nutritious fruits
and vegetables. At scale, this
activity will not only contribute to
the diversification of family diets,
but will also boost household
incomes through produce sales
at markets.

• Corn crops : PHC helped to • Poultry farming : PHC helped

introduce an improved seed
variety to boost production
quality and quantity. This pilot
aims to slowly phase out older
seed varieties and distribute
to introduce a new hen breed
that produces larger quantities
of both fertilized and unfertilized
eggs. As it grows, this pilot aims to
distribute chicks to members of

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 several Community Development Groups and serve as both a meat and
egg supplier to PHC’s guest house and other company activities.

• Quality seeds production : In collaboration with IITA and to support the

national program ATA (Agenda de transformation Agricole) of the DRC,
PHC has started to produce quality seeds of corn, rice, and cassava. In
2023, 52 tons were produced. A part of them will be distributed to farmers’
organizations to support them in their economic activities.

• Partnership Palm Trees Plantations: This pilot aims to help induce

independent palm tree plantations to meet RSPO standards. 20 hectares
of palm trees have already been provided to five oil palm farmers.

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PHC Foundation
To share even more its prosperity in increasing its positive impacts in the
surrounding communities, PHC has launched a new foundation called the
PHC Foundation. This Foundation was launched in September 2023.

Income and
Sustainable Healthy and skilled
GOALS employment
communities rural dwellers
generation

Community Environmental Educational Good health

PROGRAMS
development conservation excellence and nutrition

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PHC Awards
The PHC Awards are an annual awards ceremony designed to celebrate
and honor employees who have distinguished themselves through their
performance during the year. It is the company’s most prestigious event,
highlighting the excellence of its employees. Prizes are awarded in all categories.

The initiative to reward employees for their performance was launched in 2021
with the introduction of monthly awards to recognize outstanding employee
efforts. This was followed by the launch of the first PHC Awards in February 2022.
Since then, the PHC Awards have become a much-anticipated annual event,
showcasing the talent and dedication of the company’s employees.

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Oil Palm Harvesting
Oil palm harvesting lies at the heart of PHC’s operations. We hold contracts with
4,785 harvesters across our three sites, without whom none of our operations
would be possible.

Oil palm harvesting is physically demanding work. PHC equips harvesters with
the necessary safety equipment to engage safely in harvesting activities.
In 2021, PHC provided uniforms and boots to each harvester for use on the
plantation sites.

Harvesters must also have a strong understanding of the varying techniques

and tools to trim palm leaves and cut down fruit bunches. To the right is an
example of some of the techniques harvesters must use for proper harvesting.
Note that the example is specific to mature oil palms; our harvesters are also
trained in techniques tailored to young oil palms.

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CREATY

Since its creation in 1946, Centre de Recherches et d’Expérimentations en

Agriculture Tropicale de Yaligimba (CREATY) has worked to develop the
best properties of Congolese oil palms. CREATY has a remarkable history of
innovation in oil palm research and experimentation; seed varieties produced
through CREATY’s research are well known and often referenced in other major
palm oil producing countries.

CREATY’s Objectives

• Improve oil palm yields by selecting the best plant crosses.

• Select for resistance to diseases and adverse weather conditions.

• Produce selected ‘tenera’ seeds for PHC plantations and for

commercialization.

Oil Palm Genetic Material Used at CREATY: The genetic material used at
CREATY comes from several countries around the world, including DR Congo,
Cameroon, Cote D’Ivoire, Nigeria, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea.

Oil Palm Varieties: CREATY crosses the dura oil palm variety (thick shell, thin
pulp, 12%-16% oil content) and the pisifera oil palm variety (no shell, often sterile,
8%-10% oil content) to create the hybrid tenera variety (thin shell, thick pulp,
22%-25% oil content) for commercial seed production.

Current Research

Research is in progress at CREATY to study the possibility of producing

albescence oil palm crosses of the tenera variety, which are rich in Vitamin E
and can be commercialized with high added value.
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• Strengthens access to clean
drinking water. PHC led the
drilling and installation of 72
boreholes in PHC staff housing
areas, as well as in 17 surrounding
villages outside our concessions.
Prior to the installation of these
boreholes, many communities
had to travel several kilometers
for clean water.
• Renovates and rebuilds schools
to support education access in
and around PHC sites.
• Axis 2- Create a healthy, safe,
and secure work environment
that upholds human rights. To
support this axis, PHC:
• Mitigates health and safety
risks to workers through the
implementation of robust safety
standards.
• Reduces risks through
worker training and capacity
strengthening.
• Improves housing conditions for
all employees under contract.
See Page 19 for more details.
• Axis 3- Create a healthy, safe,
and secure work environment
that upholds human rights. To
support this axis, PHC:
• Identifies and mitigates negative
environmental impacts through
impact evaluations. Through
an environmental impact
evaluations firm, PHC conducted
High Conservation Value (HCV)
assessments for each of its sites
in 2015.
• Implements e v i d e n c e -
based policies protecting
the surrounding environment,
including limiting our plantation
activity to brownfield sites to
ensure that we do not contribute
to deforestation through our
operations.
• Axis 4- Build an efficient and
engaged workforce through fair
and transparent labor practices.
To support this axis, PHC :
• Supports workers’ rights to
unionize. PHC’s workers are
currently represented by six
unions.
• Aims to provide for a good quality
of life in and around the plantation
sites, not only through healthcare
and education, but by supporting
sports and cultural activities.
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STAFF HOUSING RENOVATION
& CONSTRUCTION PROJECT
PHC wants to provide decent, safe, and secure housing to all its workers, in
compliance with national standards and the company’s responsibility. In
August 2021, we launched an ambitious housing plan to renovate or rebuild all
PHC worker housing near the plantation sites.

Following an analysis of the 3,840 existing workers’ houses owned by PHC, we

identified: 2,122 houses that require renovation. These renovated houses, which
were built between the 1930s and 1980s, will require additional upgrade phases
upon completion to meet new national housing standards.
The renovation is currently under construction.

Before
renovation

After
renovation

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PHC ACADEMY
Plantations et Huileries du Congo,
has undertaken an action since
2022 with the view to setting up a
training academy to increase the
skills and develop the capabilities of
the existing staffs, but also to ensure
the integration of new talents in all
sectors of the company’s activities for
better corporate culture.
The areas targeted for the
competency development and
capacity building are covering both
specific technical areas and some
transversal training particularly
for managers. All professional
categories are considered. The
training needs are assessed through
a participatory approach to promote
the appropriation of the training by
the beneficiary participants.
The training modules delivered either
online or face to face as of to date
have being focusing on the followings
: leadership skills, management
skills, performance management
skills, conflict management skills,
English language, French language,
essentials of the information
technology, essentials of the logistics,
automobile mechanics, automobile
electricity, safe vehicle driving,
document archiving, executive
assistant, introduction to internal
audit, cybersecurity audit, essentials of
adjustment in a mechanical workshop,
data analysis, laboratory techniques,
fundamentals of ultrasound,
biomedical waste management,
OHADA and Cyscohada, awareness
against harassment at workplace, the
fight against corruption, automation,
essentials for firefighters, training of
industrial guards and so forth.
Since 2022, more than 950 people,
of which slightly more than half
were from the industrial guards’
teams, have been exposed to these
respective training courses. We have
recorded on average 40 training
hours per individual participant.
The trainers were made up of
experts selected based on their
skills regarding the targeted training
modules. They were coming from the
Democratic Republic of Congo and
from other countries.
Our aim is to end up with PHC internal
trainers at one side and external
trainers at the other side as we
engage to building internal trainers’
capacity.
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THE CONGO RIVER
the Congo River is key to economic activities across DRC. PHC may perhaps
best exemplify the critical importance of this waterway: with limited roads
connecting the country, the Congo River serves as the primary connecting
route between all three of our sites and the capital city.

We transport all of our palm oil to Kinshasa by river barge, a journey that can
take up to three weeks from Lokutu. While this presents significant logistical
challenges for PHC, we are committed to preserving the incredible landscape
and beauty of the Congo River in all of our interactions with it.

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QUESTIONS AND CONCERNS
Please contact any of the PHC staff below for
questions or concerns during or after your stay.

Monique Gieskes, Managing Director:

monique.gieskes@phc-congo.com

Fanny Salmon, Environmental & Social

Governance
Director: fanny.salmon@phc-congo.com

Michèle Kimpwene, Communication Manager:

michelle.kimpwene@phc-congo.com

FOLLOW US
www.phc-congo.com

Plantations et Huileries du Congo

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