AgDevCo, a specialist investor in African agriculture, has struck its second new deal this month by backing a Mozambique agribusiness.
The UK-based social impact investor has closed a $3 million debt investment in Quinta da Bela Vista Limitada (QBV), an irrigated banana estate located in the Boane area in Mozambique.
QBV was established in 2016 as a joint venture between Silverstreet Capital’s Silverlands I Fund and Johannesburg Stock Exchange-listed Crookes Brothers Ltd. It comprises 128 hectares of irrigated bananas. QBV aims to expand the operations to 260 hectares over the next two years.
Crookes Brothers has a track record in the banana sector in South Africa while SilverStreet is one of Africa’s largest dedicated investors in the agricultural sector with investments in eight countries on the continent.
AgDevCo’s investment will support QBV’s expansion by providing long-term capital. QBV currently employs over 240 people and is looking to add to the team with the fresh funding.
AgDevCo made a follow-on bet on a portfolio company in Rwanda in April. It struck the first new deal of 2021 with an investment in Victory Farms, an aquaculture company in Kenya, earlier this month.
The exact investment amount was not disclosed but AgDevCo said it was a multi-million-dollar mezzanine debt transaction. The money will help the Kenyan company construct a feed mill and expand into new countries in East Africa.
At the end of 2020, AgDevCo’s portfolio comprised $138 million of committed funds into 48 companies.
– Capital Quest