Denis Opudo
According to Africa Private Equity News industry research, food and agribusiness sectors in Africa registered a large equity activity deal in last month. EXEO Capital invested $6.4 million on Capital Fisheries on its Agri-Vie ll project. Capital Fisheries is a food startup that majors in the distribution of fish and various animal protein. The Zambian based company has an innovative business model of whole-selling frozen products from reconfigured shipping containers located permanently in small shopping centers, markets and various areas where people assemble.
Yield Uganda Investment Fund which is being managed by Pearl Capital Partners invested $421,000 on Sesaco a processor of soy that is based in East Africa. International investors are also following the trend. For example, the Moringa investment supported Jus Delice, a company from Togo. The company is constructing a pineapple juice firm supplied by many organic farmers. Fairfax Africa from Canada has also shown interest in the sector by giving $25.7 million to Philafrica, aSouth African based agri-processor. Moreover, AlphaMundi Group and Triodos Investment Management both from Europe could increase their investment soon. This comes after they launched a new impact investing fund kitty worth almost $23 million. The kitty targets renewable energy and agricultural companies.
Technology is vital in the production and distribution of food. Investors of venture capital are taking note of that. GreenFingers Mobile from South Africa secured a second round of funding from Hivos Food and Lifestyle Fund. GreenFingers Mobile is an agri-tech startup that finances and manages large groups of small-scale farmers. The company will use the investment to improve its online platform and to increase its footsteps in the supply chain. Easyshop Easycook from Nigeria announced seed financing round led by the EchoVC PanAfrican Fund. Easyshop Easycook is an online grocer and fresh food processor. It targets SMEs and working professionals. TradeDepot from Nigeria recently raised $3 million Series A round of funding led by Partech. It will invest to integrate all participants in the value chain of trade digitally.
Furthermore, financial and banking services recorded growth in May. AfricInvest and Amethis partnered to invest in CFG Bank. CFG Bank is banking business and pioneering investment from Morocco. It will use the fund to expand into retail banking. AfriInvest cleared its agreement to invest $55 million in Britam Holdings. The latter is a significant financial service group in EA. The investment will take place in collaboration with DEG from Germany, Proparco from France and FMO from Dutch. Lidya from Nigeria secured $6.9 million in its Series A round of funding. The round was led by a group of investors that included Alitheia Capital and Omidyar Network. Moreover, Old Mutual Private Equity’s acquired 50% interest in Medhold Group a South African based supplier of medical facilities. The Rise Fund led a series C round of funding into Cellulant a digital payments provider in Pan-Africa. Century Developments an East African property company received investment from Consonance Kuramo Special Opportunities Fund I’s. Century Developments has plans of investing in real estate assets in the affordable and education sectors.
