How Experts Rated 1,229 Coffees From Countries Around The World.
The best coffee country in the world is Ethiopia, if hundreds of professional coffee tasters are to be believed.
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Harvest Money Expo training to focus on value addition.
The two-year lockdown has made many people realise the importance of agriculture, not only to the world’s economy, but also to the individual incomes.
The Pearl Capital Partners (PCP) bi-Annual Newsletter-January 2022.
Welcome to the 4th edition of the Pearl Capital Partners (PCP) bi-Annual Newsletter-January 2022. A lot has happened since our last edition in July 2021. We are delighted to have reached the year 2022 and appreciate you staying with us as we provide updates on our activities for over the last six months and on the impact investing arena.
The impact of Climate Change on women in Agriculture in Uganda.
Women make up the majority of the world’s poor and are more reliant on natural resources for a living and this is same locally in Uganda and mostly rural communities. With Climate-related issues, such as prolonged dry seasons and floods becoming more common and threatening agricultural livelihoods and food security, women are more affected due to their critical role as food security enablers.
A response to the business development needs of Agri-Small and Medium Enterprises in Uganda.
Resilience, agility, and adaptation are three important qualities adopted by enterprises over the past two years to support business continuity amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.
Nine agribusiness entrepreneurs to watch in East Africa
How we made it in Africa has interviewed many of the top entrepreneurs – both up-and-coming and established – operating in East Africa’s agribusiness and food industry. Here is a selection of nine businesspeople capitalising on the sector’s potential.
Understanding Impact Performance: Climate Change Mitigation Investments
Comparing and assessing impact performance is critical to increasing the effectiveness of impact investing. Investors around the world are growing their capital allocations toward impact-oriented strategies, deepening their approaches to impact measurement and management, and, anecdotally, becoming progressively better aware of the variety of strategies available to influence impact results. Read More…
Investment’s role in the fight against climate change
As governments, climate experts and campaigners gather at COP26, how are impact investors tackling the defining challenge of our era? Read More…
Venture Capital: Why has it not taken off as financing for SMEs?
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Uganda suffer from lack of finance for their survival and growth. This liquidity emergency, according to Ian Nvula, an expert in capital markets and founder of T.E Markets, has motivated struggling start-ups to find alternative financing sources different from conventional bank lending, writes Nelson Mandela Muhoozi. Read More…
Businesses must look to environmental social governance responsibility.
For most children, their worst nightmare would be losing a parent, a best friend, or their favourite toy. Strangely for me — perhaps because all those were intact — my greatest fear was the world becoming a desert — a hot, dry wasteland. Read More…
Yield Uganda Investment Fund partners with FCA Investments to expand its portfolio in Uganda by investing in a Matugga based meat processing company.
Yield Uganda Investment Fund (Yield Fund) and FCA Investments (FCAI), are pleased to announce a co-investment in Sausage King 3000 Uganda Ltd (Sausage King), a premier meat processor in Uganda. This marks Yield Fund’s eleventh investment into Uganda’s agriculture sector. Read More…
Selling chicken in Uganda: Investor sees gap to formalise the low-income market
The Yield Uganda Investment Fund recently announced an investment of $1.8 million in Sekajja Agro Farms (SAF), a Ugandan poultry business that operates a commercial chicken farm and abattoir as well as a chicken feed manufacturing unit. Jeanette Clark spoke to David Wangolo, investment manager at Pearl Capital Partners – which manages the Yield Uganda…
Ugandan poultry firm Sekajja, Kenyan food processor NatureLock get funding
Yield Uganda Investment Fund, an agribusiness impact vehicle managed by Pearl Capital Partners, has struck its third deal in as many months by investing UGX6.79 billion ($1.8 million) in Sekajja Agro Farms Ltd, in a blend of equity and long-term debt. This marks the fund’s tenth investment in the Ugandan agribusiness sector and the third…
Ugandan poultry farm Sekajja Agro clinches US$1.8m investment from Yield Uganda Investment Fund
UGANDA – Sekajja Agro Farms Limited (SAF), a Ugandan based poultry firm, has received UGX 6.79 billion (US$ 1.8 million) blended equity and long-term debt from Pearl Capital Partners’ managed fund, the Yield Uganda Investment. According to Pearl Capital, this is the fund’s tenth investment in the Ugandan agribusiness sector, to include US$1.54 million investment…
SAF PRESS RELEASE
The Yield Uganda Investment Fund is proud to announce the investment of UGX 6.79 billion (USD 1.8 million) in Sekajja Agro Farms Limited (SAF) sekajjaagrofarms.com, in a blend of equity and long term debt. This marks the Fund’s tenth investment in the Ugandan agribusiness sector. The Yield Fund is an agri-business impact fund set up…
UG@59: Good seeds enhance food security – MAAIF
You reap what you sow,” a man who was buying seeds at container village was heard muttering. This is quite an old saying. However, for easier interpretation, you cannot sow oranges and harvest mangoes. If you sow poor quality seeds, you certainly will have a poor harvest. “I am going to plant this one seed…
Industrialisation of cassava in East Africa: Investor identifies gaps in the market
Agriculture-focused private equity firm Pearl Capital Partners, manager of the Yield Uganda Investment Fund, sees growth potential in the cassava value chain in Uganda. The firm recently invested $2.5 million in cassava producer Pura Organic Agro Tech Ltd. The funding will be used to set up a vertically integrated cassava processing plant to produce high-quality…
PRESS RELEASE: Yield Uganda Investment Fund and FCA Investments partner with AMFRI Farms Limited
Yield Uganda Investment Fund (Yield Fund) and FCA Investments (FCAI) are pleased to announce a Euro1.3m investment in AMFRI Farms Limited (AMFRI Farms). AMFRI Farms is a pioneering organic farming,processing and exporting company working closely with diverse communities all over Uganda, in trainingand production of Certified Organic fruits and vegetables, processed for the export market.…
Amfri Farms secures Shs5.49b to expand outgrowers base
Amfri Farms Ltd has secured a 1.32 million Euros, ( about Shs5.49b) investment from FCA Investments and Yield Uganda Investment Fund managed by Pearl Capital Partners. Of the investment, partially structured as convertible preference shares, 60 per is convertible into equity. The funding aims at providing long-term ”patient capital” to Amfri Farms to enable its…
Partnership between Uganda Manufacturers Association and the Yield Uganda Investment Fund Uganda delivers US$ 2.5 Million investment in Uganda’s pioneer Cassava Processing Facility.
With limited access to affordable and long-term credit continuing to hinder greenfield investments in agro-processing in Uganda, collaboration among the agro-processing ecosystem players is key to unlocking new funding mechanisms. This is even more important as the Uganda Manufacturers Association (UMA) reports an up to 60% reduction in production by her members occasioned by the…
Which team would you rather hire: An A-Team with a B-idea or a B-Team with an A-idea?
When private equity (PE) managers and investors, like Pearl Capital Partners and many others, are considering investing in companies, we tend to focus on the hard cold numbers. Numbers around the market, strategy, cash flow and the first 100 days postinvestment. So do owners and CEOs of the companies that we seek to invest in.…
Yield Uganda Investment Fund invests in Pura Organic Agro Tech Ltd, an agro-processing company focused on the cassava value chain.
Yield Uganda Investment Fund (Yield Fund), which is managed by Pearl Capital Partners, is thrilled to announce an investment of USD 2.5 million in Pura Organic Agro Tech Ltd (Pura) structured in both straight equity and patient debt investment. This marks the Fund’s eighth investment into the Ugandan agriculture sector but more uniquely, the first…
PEARL CAPITAL PARTNERS BI-ANNUAL NEWSLETTER JANUARY 2021
Welcome to 2021 and the first edition of the Pearl Capital Partners (PCP) Bi-Annual Newsletter in this new year. Another year has come and an eventful one has passed. We wish you a successful new year, new start and miles to go. Read More
Why small farms are key to the future of food – and how we can support them
In the 25 years since Clayton Christensen coined the term “disruptive innovation,” much has been written about the benefits of shaking up established business practices. Even before the current pandemic, there was a growing recognition that our food systems, too, needed to be reimagined. Today’s food systems must feed 7.8 billion people without compromising future…
YIELD UGANDA INVESTMENT FUND ANNUAL REPORT
The sector has however seen underperformance over recent years in comparison to other sectors within the economy due to the low level of value addition through processing facilities and also a lack of commercial private enterprises, thereby resulting in weak employment creation. Read More
AAC FUND CLOSURE REPORT
In 2004, we set up African Agricultural Capital (AAC) with the ambition of stimulating investment inagricultural businesses in East Africa. AAC was one of the first agricultural impact investmentvehicles in the region. It inspired others and we learned many lessons along the way. I would like tocommend most highly the shareholders, Gatsby Charitable Foundation and…
Release of African Agricultural Capital closure of fund report
Gatsby Africa, Pearl Capital Partners and Onward Resources International have released the AfricanAgricultural Capital (AAC) closure of fund report. The launch of the report was held virtually on the 28thOctober 2020 and presented to different stakeholders with interests in impact investing. Read More
Lessons learnt from investing in East African agribusiness companies
Pearl Capital Partners is a fund manager that invests in agribusiness enterprises in East Africa. The firm has offices in Kampala, Uganda and Nairobi, Kenya. Its most recent fund, the Yield Uganda Investment Fund, has made seven investments in Uganda worth over €5.8 million. These include: Sesaco – a processor of soy products; Chemiphar – an…
Lessons learnt from investing in agricultural SMEs in East Africa
In 2004, private equity firm Pearl Capital Partners set up African Agricultural Capital (AAC) with the ambition of stimulating investment in agricultural businesses in East Africa. The fund was formally closed in 2019. AAC was one of the first agricultural impact investment vehicles in the region. Investors collectively committed $9 million in AAC, which the fund fully…
Agricultural Markets and Sustainable Development: Global value chains, smallholder farmers and digital innovations
This edition of The State of Agricultural Commodity Markets focuses on how markets can bring us closer to achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. SOCO 2020 offers a detailed analysis of the major global trends in agri-food markets and trade to identify how to reap economic, environmental and social gains and spur overall development.…
How do we get capital to African SMEs to build a sustainable recovery?
Why does CDC care about SMEs? Formal SMEs contribute up to 40% of national income in emerging economies, according to the World Bank, yet they suffer from a lack of access to finance. These businesses are critically important if we are to support economies across the continent to not only recover from the COVID pandemic but…
Agriculture will be most resilient sector, says World Bank
The World Bank, in its Global Economic Prospect 2021, has said Uganda’s agricultural sector will be among the most resilient sector in 2021. Uganda, the World Bank said, will be among the five countries in sub Saharan Africa that will experience the least contraction in agriculture. This, according to the World Bank, implies that agriculture will support…
Microsoft partners with AGRA to support digital transformation in agriculture
The partnership between Microsoft and Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), enabled through the Microsoft 4Afrika initiative, will enhance AGRA’s digital transformation agenda as it works to improve food security for 30 million farming households across 11 countries by 2021. Microsoft has, together with the AGRA, entered into a Memorandum of Understanding to co-create…
Africa Agriculture Status Report focuses on assessing the opportunities, challenges and policies required to enable African farmers serve rapidly growing urban food markets
This year’s Africa Agriculture Status Report (AASR) focuses on Feeding Africa’s Cities by assessing the opportunities, challenges and policies required to enable African farmers and agribusinesses to serve the rapidly growing urban food markets. The report seeks to find ways for smallholder farmers to drive food security, rural prosperity, and inclusive economic growth. The 2020…
Understanding the Needs for Private Equity and the Barriers in Developing/Emerging Markets; A Case Study of Uganda
Private equity is an alternative investment class and consists of capital that is not listed on a public exchange. Private equity is composed of funds and investors that directly invest in private companies, or that engage in buyouts of public companies, resulting in the delisting of public equity. Institutional and retail investors provide the capital for private equity, and the capital can…
Covid-19 has exposed private sector investment opportunities in Agribusiness
The Covid-19 pandemic has destroyed livelihoods and scattered millions of jobs around the world. The International Labor Organization estimates that nearly 1.6 billion people’s livelihoods are now threatened with the greatest impact being felt by those in the informal sector. However, the pandemic has also brought to the fore numerous opportunities in Agribusiness that the…