Yield Uganda Investment Fund, an agribusiness impact vehicle managed by Pearl Capital Partners, and FCA Investments have committed €1.3 million ($1.54 million) to Uganda’s AMFRI Farms Ltd.
AMFRI Farms, which is led by Nazim Shivji, is an organic farming, processing and exporting company. It started operations in Luwero in 1998, at the company’s Kyampisi Estate.
As part of this investment, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) has also made available a business grant to AMFRI.
The long-term capital will help AMFRI Farms expand production both at the nucleus estate and among the network of certified smallholder farmers, increase its processing capacity and improve access to a wider organic food market.
Edward Isingoma, managing partner at Pearl Capital, said AMFRI Farms is a “unique” company in the fund’s portfolio.
“The business practices promoted by AMFRI Farms to grow the production and marketing of certified organic products… create a strong value proposition for Uganda’s agriculture, especially the network of the smallholder farmers that supply the company,” said Isingoma.
This is the second deal by the Yield Uganda Investment Fund within a month. It had committed $2.5 million to Pura Organic Agro Tech Ltd, a Ugandan company set up by an Indian-origin entrepreneur, in early August.
The fund was set up in January 2017 by the European Union, through IFAD and the National Social Security Fund. The fund received follow-on investments from the Open Society Foundation and FCA Investments in June 2019. AMFRI is its ninth known deal.
– Capitalquest