Eos Capital raises US$5.7m in Euphrates Agriculture Fund dedicated to Namibia’s agriculture sector
NAMIBIA – Namibian private equity fund manager, Eos Capital, has announced the first close of its Euphrates Agri Fund, having raised N$90 million (US$5.7 million).
This will allow Euphrates to make its first investments in projects across the Namibian agriculture value chain while additional fundraising continues.
Eos Capital plans to deploy capital for its debut investment in agricultural services by the end of this year.
The formation of the fund was announced last year in October with Eos Capital citing the main challenge facing the Namibian agriculture sector is lack of financing, highlighting that the only current large-scale investor in the sector in the country through debt financing is Agribank.
The capital raised through this vehicle is aimed to bring about a renaissance in Namibian agriculture sector by building out a portfolio of stable, high-quality agricultural assets and focusing on climate-adapted investments across the value chain that support the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Under its mandate, the Euphrates Agri Fund will invest through equity and quasi-equity deals in unlisted companies focused on ag processing, distribution, logistics, commercial production, biomass, fertilizers, seeds, animal products, retail, and equipment.
These investments will carry a focus on economic growth, job creation, and social benefits.
To guarantee that the Euphrates Agri Fund is well-guided through both objectives, Eos Capital has engaged local leaders in the agricultural space including Arnold Klein, CEO of Agra, Otto Shikongo, CEO of Debmarine Namibia, Joubert Smit, CEO of Tineal, and agricultural specialist Ryno van der Merwe as independent members of its Board of Directors and Investment Committee, reports Global AgInvesting.
The Euphrates Agri Fund is the third funding initiative from Eos Capital, first being the Allegrow Fund which is a growth and operational development fund to provide equity, debt and mezzanine finance to fast-growing local businesses.
The second initiative is the Namibia Infrastructure Development and Investment Fund (NIDIF), an infrastructure platform to develop, acquire, invest in, build, operate and hold infrastructure assets.
Under the NIDIF, EOS Capital recently partnered with Climate Fund Managers (CFM) to invest US$ 60 million (N$990 million) in Kelp Blue, a sustainable oceanic aquaculture enterprise focused on addressing the challenges of climate change and restoring the health of marine ecosystems through commercially viable solutions.
Spread for a period of five-years, the funding will be utilized in the commercial development of the world’s first large-scale kelp farm.
Kelp is a fast-growing seaweed and has the ability to sequester more CO2 than terrestrial forests while boosting marine biodiversity and improving fish stocks.
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