African Updates: Apollo, Agro Care, Shamba, and Crown News! Here’s what’s buzzing in the African retail and agricultural scene, brought to you by ESM’s Notes From Africa. Dive into the freshest updates and intriguing developments in this dynamic region.
African Updates: Apollo Agriculture has obtained a loan to support its expansion plans.
In Kenya, there’s exciting news from Apollo Agriculture, an agri-food firm that’s just landed a hefty $10 million loan from Swedfund and DEG, a German finance group. They’re planning to use this windfall to broaden their support and services to smallholder farmers across Kenya, aiming to reach an additional 400,000 farmers with their expanded operations.
Lagos State, Nigeria, to build three cocoa processing plants.
Over in Nigeria, Lagos State is getting serious about cocoa. They’ve announced ambitious plans to set up three cocoa processing facilities by 2025, each with a hefty capacity to handle 10,000 metric tons annually. It’s a strategic move to boost local processing, aiming to handle 40% of the state’s cocoa harvest internally while also empowering over 20,000 small agricultural businesses with new training initiatives.
Soybean crushing operations in Algeria are set to start producing in June.
Heading to Algeria, a major soybean crushing venture is taking shape in Bazoul, Jijel. Slated to start in June, this project is set to make waves in the vegetable oil industry, with plans to process 5,000 metric tons of soybeans daily, churn out significant quantities of crude oil and animal feed, and aim to satisfy 20% of Algeria’s demand for table oil.
“Shamba Pride” has received $3.7 million in funding for its expansion plans.
Back in Kenya, Shamba Pride, an innovative agricultural technology company, has just received $3.7 million from EDFI AgriFI to fuel its growth. This inflow of funds is intended to scale up its service offering and reach more farmers, with an ambitious goal of connecting with 200,000 farmers by 2025
Even Agro Care, a Dutch heavyweight in tomato production, is launching an 11-hectare greenhouse project in Agadir. Scheduled for launch in 2024, the state-of-the-art facility will use advanced technology to optimize tomato growing, in line with the company’s expansion vision.
Lastly, the Kenyan beverage market is set to rock, with Mauritius-based Crown Beverages getting approval to buy Kenya Bottling Company. The move marks Crown Beverage’s entry into a market dominated by global giants, positioning it as a newcomer in the Kenyan hot drinks segment.
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