Tag: Investments & Funding

Financial institution EBRD supports Tunisia’s olive-oil sector with US$7m financing to COGIA SA

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TUNISIA – The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has dished out a TND 20 million (US$7.19 million) loan to Compagnie Générale des Industries Alimentaires (COGIA SA), one of Tunisia’s largest producer and export of olive oil. COGIA is a subsidiary of United Arab Emirates-based IFFCO Group, with a diversified portfolio of value-added sustainable foods, consumer products and services across the Middle East, Africa, southeast Asia and Europe.  The funds will enable the producer of Rahma, Allegro and SanMarco brands, to grow its sourcing, bottling and exports of Tunisian…

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Coca-Cola System celebrates 70 years in Nigeria, earmarks US$1 billion investment in next 5 years

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NIGERIA – Boasting of having 8 manufacturing plants, over 7,000 dealers, skilled and dedicated employees, and a sophisticated distribution system across Nigeria, there is practically no community in Nigeria where a cold bottle of Coca-Cola is not within the close reach of consumers. Marking 70 years of existence in the West African country since 1951, through its bottling arm Nigerian Bottling Company (NBC) Limited and Coca-Cola Nigeria Ltd, the Coca-Cola System has kicked off its platinum jubilee celebration with a raft of activities lined up to run all through the…

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Moroccan retailtech startup Chari.ma raises US$5m to spearhead expansion plan

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MOROCCO – Chari.ma, a Moroccan B2B e-commerce platform that fashions retailers with suppliers has raised US$5 million in the largest venture funding round in the country this year and among the biggest-ever seed funding rounds in the North African nation. The funding round was jointly led by Rocket Internet, Global Founders Capital and P1 Ventures with participations from Plug and Play, Y Combinator, Village Capital, MetLife Foundation, Orange Digital Ventures, Air Angels, SPE Capital, Pincus Private Equity and Reflect Ventures. The Chandaria family, Propertyfinder CEO and founder Michael Lahyani, and…

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Varun Beverages Zimbabwe rumps up production with launch of new US$12m production line

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ZIMBABWE – Varun Beverages Zimbabwe (Pvt) Limited, the franchise bottler of PepsiCo in Zimbabwe, has commissioned a new US$12m water bottling line, with a production capacity of 15 million bottles per month. The new 400 bottle per minute line is part of the third phase of the company’s expansion project, which will bring total production capacity to 66 million bottles of sparkling beverages, cans and bottled water per month, reports The Herald. Varun Beverages Zimbabwe officially commissioned its first plant in the Southern African country in February 2018 with an…

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Meat startup Licious becomes latest India unicorn after raising US$52m in latest funding round

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INDIA –  Licious, a direct-to-consumer fresh meat and seafood brand, is the latest Indian food startup to achieve the highly sought-after Unicorn status after raising US$52 million in a Series G funding round.  The round, led by IIFL’s Late Stage Tech Fund and Avendus, takes the company to a post-money valuation of US$1.05 billion, making it the latest entrant to the coveted unicorn club of companies having more than a billion dollars in valuation.  Lucious cofounder Vivek Gupta,  told reporters in an interview that the startup planned to use the recently acquired funds to…

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USAID funded Trade Hub supports Senegalese Agro Boye, Guinea’s La Petite Damba to increase capacity

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WEST AFRICA – Senegal-based agribusiness firm Agro Boye, has received a US$1.1 million co-investment grant from the USAID-funded West Africa Trade & Investment Hub (Trade Hub), to increase its production capacity of horticultural products, helping to reduce food insecurity and import-dependency in the country. The investment comes three years after its partnership with the Trade Hub on building a successful pilot project that the agribusiness implemented in 2019 to boost its potato cultivation using 30 hectares of land. At that time, Agro Boye first invested around US$260,000 and produced 900…

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Team Europe partners with Zanaco to launch US$34m agriculture investment initiative in Zambia

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ZAMBIA – Smallholder farmers and rural cooperatives across Zambia are set to benefit from a new €30 million (US$34m) initiative launched by Zambia National Commercial Bank (Zanaco) in partnership with Team Europe, aimed to accelerate agricultural investment in the country. The new initiative is geared towards improve agricultural productivity, upgrade agricultural processing, and support a sector severely impacted by COVID-19 challenges and is supported by a best-practice assistance program. This will be achieved through increasing access to finance, support job creation and enhance agricultural productivity. This represents the first targeted…

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Perfect Day set to expand operations after raising US$350 million in Series D funding round

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USA – California-based food technology startup Perfect Day has raised US$350 million in series D funding to enable it to expand its business operations.   The funding which will bring the startup’s total to US$750 million will be used to support current operations as well as create an “enterprise biology” arm of the company.  Some of the funds will also go towards Perfect Day’s affiliated CPG company, The Urgent Company which announced a new brand of animal-free dairy brand called Modern Kitchen.  According to the company, Modern Kitchen will initially roll…

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PepsiCo invests in UK distribution center upgrade as Britvic pumps US$31m into factory expansion

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UK – American drink and snack company PepsiCo has completed a £14m (US$19m) upgrade of its Southern Region Distribution Centre (SRDC) based in Leicester to increase the capacity and efficiency of the site.   The investments saw the building of a new facility with ‘state-of-the-art equipment and technology that will increase the storage capacity at the site by 29%.   PepsiCo says the investment will enable it to better meet the growing demand for its Walkers brand crisps – previously it relied on overspill sites that required crisps to be…

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Swiggy eyes US$10B valuation in latest fundraising drive, restructures Supr Daily to unlock its delivery potential

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INDIA – India food-tech startup  Swiggy is finalizing a new financing round where it targets to raise between US$500 and US$600 million, ET Retail has reported.   The exercise is likely to catapult the valuation of the online food delivery company to as much as US$10 billion, which is double the valuation ascribed to the seven-year-old venture a few months ago.   If successful in its latest endeavor, Swiggy will rank among India’s most valued privately owned startups after ed-tech firm Byju’s and fintech major Paytm, which is slated to go…

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