NAMIBIA – EOS Capital, a Namibian private equity fund manager has launched its third fund, Euphrates Agriculture Fund which aims to bring about an “Agriculture Renaissance” in Namibia.
Through the fund, according to Namibian Times, EOS aims to raise N$500 million (US$33.5m) by March 2021 to invest in agriculture production and value addition.
It will make equity and quasi-equity investments into unlisted vehicles in target sectors including agro-processing, distribution and logistics, commercial agriculture, retail, biomass, and manufacturing of chemicals, fertilizers, seeds, animal products and equipment.
“Eos Capital’s mission is to contribute to the growth of the Namibian economy and the Agri fund will take us a step further on this mission.”
Nicole Maske – Managing Partner of Eos Capital
Eos Capital explained that investment will be targeted towards agriculture projects with an emphasis on economic growth, social upliftment, job creation and provide medium term returns to investors.
Nicole Maske, Managing Partner of Eos Capital said, “Eos Capital’s mission is to contribute to the growth of the Namibian economy and the Agri fund will take us a step further on this mission.
“It will be attractive to investors seeking diversification and investing into real assets that provide a hedge against inflation.”
Mesag Mulunga, who attended on behalf of Percy Misika, Executive Director of the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Land Reform, congratulated the fund on the launch.
“The launch of this Euphrates Agri Fund comes at an opportune time, when public and private sector need to integrate and coordinate efforts in the promotion of investment in the agriculture sector,” he said.
Currently, the agricultural sector production is rain-dependent, with so much talk of de-risking the sector from rainfall production, however, investment wise the talk is not substantiated.
In the sector, according to the reports, only Agribank is investing in the agricultural sector at a large scale through debt financing, however, their financing is also limited by their balance sheet.
Frederico van Wyk, senior associate at Eos Capital and an agriculture specialist, said the sector’s significance is highlighted by its potential for growth.
Van Wyk said the growth in agriculture can be enhanced through investing in technology and ingenious application of capital.
“This vision can be achieved in Namibia by creating a system for development between private and public sectors,” he explained.
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.
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