5 minute read
NEWS UPDATES
NEWS UPDATES
by www.FoodBusinessAfrica.com
Zambia’s leading alternative protein maker 260 Brands receives US$5m from Norfund
ZAMBIA – 260 Brands has received a US$5m investment from the Norwegian Investment Fund, Norfund, to finance its expansion into soymilk production.
Celebrating its Silver jubilee in September this year, the consumer goods company that manufactures, markets, and distributes products mainly based on maize and soy, launched the country’s first plantbased milk dubbed Nutramilk, made from locally sourced soybean.
The capital from Norfund will finance an investment in a turnkey soymilk production facility with an annual production capacity of 9.6 million liters.
The unit is set to utilize the UHT technology and aseptic packing that allows for a long shelf life of the products in ambient temperatures, an important factor for sales and distribution in Zambia, where the coldchain infrastructure does not allow for the availability of such beverage’s country-wide.
Ganic Foods clinches US$38m from Afreximbank for establishment of edible oil processing facilities
NIGERIA – Ganic Foods Limited, a Nigeria-based agro-food processing company, has received a US$38 million Dual Tranche Export Development Facility from the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank).
The deal is designed to support Ganic in the construction of a Palm Kernel Expellers plant, a Soybean Solvent Extraction Plant, as well as a Vegetable Oils Refinery– all located within an area of over 50,000 square meters at Odofin-Oke Village, along Shagamu-Abeokuta Expressway, Ogun State, Nigeria.
In financing the project, which is tagged at a total cost of N27 billion (US$62m), Afreximbank shows its support for the development of a local substitute for imported edible oil, reducing Nigeria's dependence on imported and, in some cases, smuggled edible oils.
This reduced exposure to imports will insulate Nigeria from the recent pricing volatility of edible oils on international markets triggered by the war in Ukraine.
INVESTMENT
GHANA – Ghana’s largest private cocoa processing company, Niche Cocoa, is seeking to expand its footprint through an investment in a manufacturing facility in Wisconsin, USA.
Under the investment, Niche is leasing an existing 44,000-squarefoot building where they will hire 24 employees to process approximately 1,200 containers of Ghana-imported cocoa cake each year.
The raw materials will be turned into cocoa powder, finished chocolate, and cocoa liquor which will be sold to other manufacturing facilities undertaking the processing of chocolate, ice cream, and baked foods.
The project will be the largest food and beverage investment by an Africa-based company in US history and the largest Ghana foreign direct investment ever in Wisconsin.
To ensure the success of the project, Niche Cocoa is partnering with The Omanhene Cocoa Bean Company, a Milwaukee-based company that pioneered the production of worldclass, single-origin, bean-to-bar chocolate manufactured in Ghana.
FOOD SECURITY
Consortium of African investors to establish regional cold-storage platform
SOUTH AFRICA – African Infrastructure Investment Managers (AIIM), one of South Africa’s largest infrastructure-focused private equity fund managers, has led a consortium of investors including Bauta Logistics and Mokobela Shakati (Pty) Ltd, to establish a cold chain logistics platform dubbed Commercial Cold Holdings (CCH).
The partners seek to establish a pan-African cold storage platform in a bid to ensure food security in the region by beefing up sub-Saharan Africa’s capacity for temperature-controlled logistics (TCL) infrastructure.
To this end, CCH would focus on acquiring and developing facilities with strategic physical locations and/ or integration with market-leading food producers, wholesalers, and retailers.
To kick-start its investment plan, the consortium has entered an R760 million (US$42.8m) deal with Africa's largest fishing group, Oceana, for its commercial cold storage (CCS) unit, with the transaction subject to regulatory approval.
CCS is a leading cold storage provider in Southern Africa, offering primary temperature-controlled storage and handling services of mainly perishable products on behalf of major manufacturers, exporters, and importers for over 50 years.
“Anchoring CCH’s strategy with such an established player is crucial for the platform’s regional expansion.
“New market entries will leverage CCS’s technical expertise and operational track record to secure strategic customer relationships,” said AIIM Investment Director Damilola Agbaje.
Up to 70% of CCS through-put will come from staple foods, critical for domestic food security, facilitating a continuous supply of staple foods.
Damilola Agbaje, AIIM Investment Director
Cold chain solution provider Ifria to receive IFC financing to spearhead growth
AFRICA – Ifria Cold Chain Development Company, a newly established platform providing end-to-end cold chain solution and transportation services, is eyeing a US$9.4m equity investment from IFC to support development of its cold chain business in North and West Africa.
Ifria is an integrated cold chain development company operating in franchise, license, or directly- cold chain logistics assets, ranging from added value cold storage/logistic warehouses for perishable products in industrial zones to first mile cold chain at the production/farm level in North and West African markets.
Its existing asset is a refrigerated warehouse facility providing storage and other value-added services for perishable food products in the port of Tanger Med in Morocco.
The IFC funding will be channelled towards supporting Ifria’s first round of investments in Morocco and Senegal between 2022 and 2024.
Some of its pipelined projects in Morocco include the acquisition an existing TCL facility in Casablanca with an initial size of 10,000 pallets position, and the development of a new TCL facility in Ouled Teima, located in the vicinity of Agadir with an initial proposed size of 5,000 pallets position.
In Senegal Ifria readies development of a new TCL facility in the industrial zone of Diamniadio in the vicinity of Dakar with an initial size of 5,000 pallets position, alongside the construction of a new TCL facility to be located in the port of Dakar with an initial proposed size of 5,000 pallets position.
