WEST AFRICA – FinDev, a Canadian financial institution dedicated to the private sector in developing countries, has announced an investment of US$12 million in the capital of Miro Forestry Developments, a forest and wood products company operating in Sierra Leone and Ghana.
FinDev’s financial support comes at a time when Miro is looking to accelerate its expansion in the West African region, which it considers “one of the most attractive in the world.”
Welcoming the partnership with FinDev, Andrew Collins, MD of Miro Forestry Development, said the financing will help his company pursue its growth strategy.
Over the past five years, the company co-founded in 2011 by Andrew Collins has sought out international donors, notably British and Dutch development finance institutions, to support its activities and expansion.
The investment announced by FinDev Canada will allow the West African wood producer to expand its forest plantations (currently covering 32,000 hectares) and continue its wood processing operations with the ambition of becoming an integrated and profitable wood products player.
This financing operation for the African forestry sector will help increase wood production and boost the sub-Saharan forestry and wood products industry. For investors, this represents an opportunity to invest in structures committed to exporting to regional and European markets.
Miro Forestry, a sustainable forestry and timber business with plantations in Ghana and Sierra Leone, has raised US$48 million in a fundraising round led by UK impact investor, CDC.
According to the CDC, the commitment will protect about 2,000 direct jobs and boost further direct and indirect job creation over the next five years.
The Dutch entrepreneurial development bank FMO has announced its recent additional transaction with Miro Forestry, one of the largest forestry plantations in West-Africa.
The transaction consists of a conversion of FMO’s existing US$10 million mezzanine debt into a redeemable preference share funded by the Building Prospects Fund, and a further US$5 million share funded by the Dutch Fund for Climate and Development (DFCD).
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