Africa’s agri-tech sector has received a sizable investment from the Agri-Business Capital Fund (“ABC Fund”), amounting to €4.21 million (about $4.5 million).
Together with a microfinance organization established in Nigeria, it has funded food production companies in Benin, Mali, and Uganda.
We are happy to support smallholder farmers in Benin, Mali, Uganda, and Nigeria with these investments, stated Jerry Parkes, CEO of Injaro Investments. The expansion of these businesses and the sustainability and productivity of the smallholder farmers they work with depend on this funding.
Bamboo Capital Partners’ founder and managing partner Jean-Philippe de Schrevel remarked, “The ABC Fund is achieving its goal of assisting smallholder farmers throughout sub-Saharan Africa with a number of new investments. These loans will aid nearby farmers and food producers in raising their output and income, ultimately spurring more economic expansion.
The ABC Fund has given ANI, a raw cashew nut processor in Benin, a loan of €800,000 so that it can expand its business and buy more raw cashew nuts. By the end of 2023, ANI hopes to obtain the BIO certification after collaborating with the Fédération Nationale des Producteurs d’Anacarde du Bénin to source from 40 000 smallholder farmers. With this accreditation, ANI would be able to charge more for organic kernels.
The ABC Fund also provided a loan of €800 000 to Promo Fruits (PF), a significant producer of pineapple juice in Benin, to help with its working capital requirements. The funds will be used by the company to import raw materials for the production of juice cans and to buy tools for the construction of polytunnels for smallholder farmers. The output capacity and income of 750 farmers are anticipated to increase thanks to this equipment.
Groupe Diakhate, a Mali-based producer of chicken feed, has been given a loan from the ABC Fund in the amount of €450 000 to buy feed raw materials, buy new, contemporary, and effective equipment, and start a program to provide fertilizer and seeds to smallholder farmers. With the investment, Groupe Diakhate will be better able to interact with the farmer cooperatives that collectively represent 250 farmers and be more active in the production process.
The ABC Fund has provided a loan facility of $257 200 to Matale Hill Brothers Ltd (MHB), a Ugandan firm that engages in the secondary processing of coffee, to help it with its working capital requirements. The money will be used on buying coffee from Ugandan smallholder farmers and gradually expanding their present network of 250 growers to include twice as many.
The ABC Fund provided a $2 million credit line to Grace & Mercy, a Nigerian non-bank microfinance organization. The company will use the cash to create a legitimate agricultural finance product that would aid economically underprivileged women who are involved in small-scale business and micro-production. Almost 4,000 agricultural loans are anticipated to be made available by the business per funding cycle thanks to the ABC Fund loan.
The ABC Fund has given some of its investees follow-on finance in addition to fresh investments. A second loan of €1 million was given to Anatrans, a company that processes raw cashew nuts, for working capital. Two cocoa cooperatives in Côte d’Ivoire, Socak Katana, and Ecookim, extended their funding with the ABC Fund.
Around 470 000 smallholder farmers have benefited from the ABC Fund’s €45 million investments in 32 agribusinesses in 14 sub-Saharan African nations as of December last year.
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