ZAMBIA – AgDevCo, the UK-based social impact investor has expanded its agri investment portfolio in Zambia with a multi-million USD debt investment in Goldenlay, the market leader in table eggs in the country.
Established in 2005, Goldenlay has a fully automated production facility and includes backward integration into irrigated and dryland cropping.
It supplies an affordable source of protein to millions of Zambian consumers, with a focus on distribution to low-income households through informal markets.
“The AgDevCo facility provides a long-term financing solution which allows the business to better finance current operations and deliver on expansion and value addition projects,” said Gys White, Managing Director of Goldenlay.
“We are delighted to back Goldenlay’s expansion and continued operational improvements. Goldenlay drives impact at both ends of the supply chain, buying maize and soya from smallholder farmers and selling affordable protein to low-income households,” said Sean Carey, Associate Director at AgDevCo.
AgDevCo is an impact investor specialising in agribusiness investments in Sub-Sahara Africa with a portfolio consisting of over 40 active investments in production, processing and distribution companies.
Across Sub-Saharan Africa, AgDevCo has invested over US$170 million linking over 480,000 smallholder farmers to profitable markets and creating over 11,000 jobs.
Some of the notable investments AgDevCo has undertaken in Africa this year include, its partnership with Centurion Agricultural Partners in a multimillion-dollar investment at Nakifuma Farming Company, a pork company in Uganda, to boost the country’s pork sector.
The investment through a new 390-sow pig breeding and finishing unit was to see Nakifuma utilize improved genetics and animal husbandry practices in the production of quality meat.
In May, AgDevCo entered into a US$3 million investment with Tradin Organic, a global organic ingredients supplier, to enhance organic cocoa sourcing in Sierra Leone.
The investment in Tradin Organic was to allow sourcing of organic cocoa directly from certified small-holder farmers in the country linking them to manufacturers in Europe, the USA and Asia.
This was followed by a US$3 million investment into Minimex Limited, Rwanda’s leading maize milling firm in April, to expand the production capacity of the firm.
The investment was supported through UK Aid’s IMSAR programme aimed at helping improve market systems for agriculture in Rwanda.
