Samawati Capital Partners is proud to partner with Sahel Capital as a sub-advisor to its new fund mandate, the Social Enterprise Fund for Agriculture in Africa (SEFAA).
Sahel Capital will act as investment adviser to the $24 million fund sponsored by the German development bank, KfW. KfW has been a committed supporter of agricultural development on the African continent, and over the past eight years has anchored several other funds such as Africa Agriculture and Trade Investment Fund (AATIF), Fund for Agricultural Finance in Nigeria (FAFIN), and Lending for African Farming Company (LAFCo). Samawati is a sub-advisor to the investment advisor of AATIF supporting activities in the East and Southern African region and will now further support Sahel Capital on the SEFAA mandate, originating transactions within the same region.
SEFAA is an impact fund with the goal of reducing poverty by investing in agricultural enterprises that contribute significantly to enhancing the business eco-system, or income opportunities, of smallholder farmers (SHFs) in sub-Saharan Africa.
The fund will invest across the agricultural value chain with a particular focus on enterprises or intermediaries that increase productivity of smallholder farmers (SHFs), address market access limitations or information asymmetries or offer agricultural finance tailored to the specific needs and production cycles of SHFs. In addition to SEFAA’s targeted impact of reducing poverty through its investments, the fund is also expected to create and preserve jobs and deliver on six of the UN sustainable development goals (SDGs 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6).
SEFAA will invest primarily debt (but with flexibility to invest some equity or quasi-equity) with the aim of filling the financing gap for earlier-stage enterprises that may not yet be mature or profitable enough to get equity and/or debt from commercial capital providers.
The SEFAA’s sub-advisor mandate fits well with Samawati Capital’s mission of directing capacity and capital to high growth SMEs in Africa to drive socio-economic transformation in the region.
Samawati Capital supported in the closing of a USD 15m term loan to fund the expansion and working capital demands of a Tanzania milling business through the Africa Agriculture and Trade Investment Fund. The company is affiliated to other local businesses operating across various sectors in Tanzania for several years and has in recent years expanded its operations to include food processing. The company has an existing mill that has been operating at capacity, processing 150MT/day of wheat for local market consumption. This has necessitated the need to increase its milling capacity to 500MT/day by adding a second mill, therewith enhancing its operations to meet the growing market demand for wheat based products in the region. The investment supports local value addition and import substitution as the company has ongoing initiatives to improve the standards of wheat crop grown locally hence increasing their sourcing from local farmers.
Samawati Capital supports in closing a EUR 20m trade finance facility with Phoenix Commodities through the Africa Agriculture and Trade Investment Fund. Phoenix is a global food and agri business operating across the value chain in production, procurement, processing, trading and distribution across five continents. Its activities are managed through 25+ offices that connect over 70 origin and destination markets. Its 2,500+ strong team manages 45+ supply chain assets and facilitates the production and / or trade of 12m+ MT of essential commodities and goods, supplying over 4,000 customers worldwide.
Samawati Capital Partners supported in the closing of a USD 5m facility to Mount Meru Millers Zambia through the Africa Agriculture and Trade Investment Fund. Mount Meru belongs to the larger group of Mount Meru companies in Southern- and Eastern Africa active in the food processing, logistics, construction and petroleum sectors. The company produces edible oils and feed cakes as well as several smaller by-products from soya, sunflower, cotton and palm oil. Products are sold in local and regional markets. Mt. Meru buys 95% of the inputs from local commercial farmers and aggregators/traders while 5% is sourced from smallholder farmers.
Samawati Capital Partners supports the Africa Agriculture and Trade Investment Fund in closing its latest transaction – a USD 11m CMA facility to African Milling Limited in Zambia. African Milling Limited is an established family business that has been running a wheat and maize mill since 2006. This collateral based facility – the first of its kind for AATIF – will enable AML to purchase wheat and maize locally from smallholder and commercial farmers in Zambia. This investment is in line with AATIF’s objectives of fostering local value addition and regional trade of key staple foods. Maize will be processed into breakfast meal, roller meal and maize bran used for stock feed, while wheat will be processed into wheat flour for human consumption and wheat bran used as livestock feed. Final products will be packaged and sold on the local and regional markets in East and Central Africa.
Samawati Capital partners supports in the organization of a breakfast event together with Power Africa and the DWS team to introduce the energy sector in Nairobi to the Universal Green Energy Access Program (“UGEAP”). Over 50 participants from the public and private sector joined the event to understand UGEAP’s investment proposal and jointly over breakfast discussed potential areas of collaboration. UGEAP is currently in the fund raising mode, seeking to close its first transaction in Q1 2019.