Pearl Capital Partners invests US$ 1.2m in northern Uganda agricultural centre

AVCA News | 16 July 2012
Medium_nuac-uganda
The African Agricultural Capital Fund, which is backed by USAID, Bill Gates and JP Morgan, has invested $1.2 million in NUAC, a company owned by several Danish partners that operates Uganda's largest farm in the Northern part of the country. (Photo: USAID)

Pearl Capital Partners invests US$ 1.2m in northern Uganda agricultural centre

Pearl Capital Partners (PCP) has made its second investment through the recently-formed African Agricultural Capital Fund (AACF). The Fund has invested US$ 1.2 million in a mix of equity and debt in Northern Uganda Agricultural Centre Limited (NUAC) www.nuac-uganda.com. The fund closed in September 2011 with investment commitments of US$ 25 million and aims to invest in 15-20 East African businesses operating in the agriculture sector within the next 3-4 years.

NUAC is a large scale mechanized farm located in Nwoya District, Northern Uganda producing cereals for sale as seed and food grain in Uganda and the region. The business is pioneering the wholly mechanized production of soya, rice and maize in Northern Uganda and is currently farming just over 250 hectares of land.  Pearl Capital’s investment will provide NUAC with medium-term capital to increase the area under cultivation to over 1,000 hectares and accelerate production of crops for both seed and commercial consumption.   NUAC’s founder and CEO, Kim Johansen said “We are pleased to have joined hands with Pearl Capital in order to accelerate the modernization of agriculture in Uganda. We also look forward to connect to other agribusinesses through AACF as well as helping out with smaller farmers in the neighborhood through crop aggregation and provision of agricultural plant and machinery hire to them.”

Speaking from PCP’s office in Kampala, Uganda, Edward Isingoma, the partner responsible for this transaction, commented: “We are delighted to have made this investment in NUAC. This business is pioneering large scale mechanized farming in Uganda, operating in a region of the country which is in special need of both investment and enterprise development. NUAC’s activities and its partnerships with seed companies will help secure the supply of high quality seeds to small scale farmers and enhance food security across the region.Through plant hire and crop aggregation the business will, in time, have a considerable multiplier effect on agricultural performance in its region of operation.  The investment promises to generate superior financial returns for the Fund and generate considerable positive social impact.”

About Pearl Capital Partners (www.pearlcapital.net)

Pearl Capital Partners is an independent investment management business domiciled and licensed in Mauritius. Since it was founded in 2005, the Pearl group has made investments in more than 20 agriculture-related businesses in East Africa with a total value exceeding US$ 12 million.

About African Agricultural Capital Fund (AACF)

AACF was established in 2011 with commitments of US$ 17 million in equity from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation and the Gatsby Charitable Foundation. JP Morgan Social Finance has committed an additional US$ 8 million in debt to the Fund with the support of a partial guarantee from USAID. USAID has also committed a further US$ 1.75 million to the Fund in order to finance technical assistance to the Fund’s investees.

For further information, please contact Edward Isingoma on: [email protected] or Mike Kinuthia on [email protected] +256 312 264 983/4.
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