Netherlands-based trading conglomerate Louis Dreyfus Holding and private equity firm Bamboo Finance jointly launched a $50m impact investment fund yesterday that will fund agribusiness startups.
Named Nisaba, the fund will focus on small and medium-sized agribusinesses in sub-Saharan Africa. Louis Dreyfus, which holds a controlling stake in agricultural product trading firm Louis Dreyfus Commodities, will provide $10m for the fund.
Nisaba will particularly seek to identify companies that incorporate social, environmental and financial returns, and which can provide access to data, finance and risk mitigation, training and technology, and services that facilitate business-to-customer transactions.
The fund aims to build a portfolio balanced across a range of countries, activities and commodities.
Margarita Louis-Dreyfus, chairman of Louis Dreyfus Holding, said: “Agribusiness development is at the crossroads of major challenges for Africa.
“With an estimated population of two billion by 2050, and 330 million young Africans expected to enter the labour market by 2025, global agricultural production is not keeping pace with population growth.
“We believe that through appropriate financing tools like impact investing, the private sector must take an active role in addressing such challenges.”