Injaro Agricultural Capital Holdings Limited divests its 30% stake in seed producer M&B

GHANA – Injaro Agricultural Capital Holdings Limited (IACHL), the impact investment fund managed by Injaro Investments, has announced that it had sold all of its 30% stake in seed producer M&B Seeds and Agricultural Services Ghana Limited (M&B).

This sale of shares represents a total exit from M&B after a 10-year holding period. As a result of the investment, M&B achieved 9-year average revenue growth of 67.5% per year, added 5,000 tonnes of process capacity and produced in 2020 more than 26 times its annual production as of 2011.

M&B has also increased the number of its subcontractors by more than twelve and generated income for more than 30,000 indirect beneficiaries over the life of the investment.

“I am optimistic about the prospects for future expansion of M&B. I firmly believe that the structure will find an investor as effective as Injaro to meet the challenges of agrifood productivity,” said Ben Kemetse, founder and CEO of M&B.

“We are also particularly grateful to the IACHL investors who have remained patient and supportive during this long journey with M&B.”

Jerry Parkes – Director, Injaro Investments

In addition to M&B, Injaro Agricultural Capital Holdings Ltd’s agribusiness SME portfolio in Ghana includes Agricare, the feed producer and Sekaf Ghana Ltd, the manufacturer of shea-based personal care products under the TAMA® brand.

Commenting on M&B’s investment and exit, Jerry Parkes, Director at Injaro Investments, said the M&B experience demonstrates the power of private equity as a critical catalyst for economic growth in Africa, providing support to businesses and capital to build resilient SMEs.

“We are also particularly grateful to the IACHL investors who have remained patient and supportive during this long journey with M&B,” he added.

A US$ 49 million the firm, which has offices in Accra and Abidjan, was established in 2009. The Injaro Agricultural Capital Holdings Fund (IACH) is an agriculture-focused fund which makes investments in debt, quasi-equity, and equity in small-and medium-sized agricultural enterprises in Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger and Sierra Leone.

Injaro focuses on SME investments across the agricultural value chain in West Africa. Its investment portfolio has generated US$107 million in income and benefited more than 3.7 million people, mainly small farmers, low-income people and their families.