SilverStreet Capital (“SilverStreet”), a UK based investment advisor to two African agricultural funds, is pleased to announce the placing of US$68 million in political risk insurance with the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (the “DFC”), the U.S. government’s development finance institution, in relation to two portfolio companies held by the Silverlands II Fund: Zambia Seed Company Limited (“Zamseed”) and Achill Island Investments (Pty) Limited (“Achill”).
SilverStreet recognises the DFC as a long-term supporter of its objective to seek attractive returns for investors whilst achieving a substantial positive social, environmental and climate impact. The DFC has, in conjunction with the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (a member of the World Bank Group), provided political risk insurance in relation to investments made by the Silverlands I Fund and, the DFC has also provided a senior debt facility to the Silverlands I Fund.
“Attracting stable and long-term capital to Africa is greatly helped by having political risk insurance. Investing to help grow and develop agricultural value chains requires such patient capital. This investment creates a substantial multiplier effect, helping to increase the incomes of hundreds of thousands of smallholder farmers across Sub-Saharan Africa and to support the growth of a new export industry in Namibia.” commented Gary Vaughan-Smith, SilverStreet’s Chief Investment Officer.
Information on SilverStreet
SilverStreet is a UK-regulated investment advisor to two African agricultural funds, Silverlands I and Silverlands II. Silverlands I is the largest fund of its kind. SilverStreet has made investments across the agricultural value chain, including seed, primary production, processing, protein, storage and manufacturing in eight countries across Sub-Saharan Africa. In 2020, SilverStreet’s investments employed over 10,000 people in these countries and provided a positive economic impact for 386,000 people across the region.
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Information on Zamseed
Zamseed is headquartered in Zambia and is a regional leader in developing higher yielding hybrid seed products that are specially bred to perform on smallholder farms in Central Africa, bringing useful traits such as drought and disease tolerance . In 2020, an estimated 88,000 smallholder farmers planted using Zamseed’s seed on 120,000 hectares. By increasing their yields, we estimate that these smallholder farmers increased their incomes by US$18 million per annum.
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Information on Achill
Achill is an integrated producer of table grapes and dates.It packs, markets and exports its product to Europe, Africa and Asia. The business is located in the Aussenkehr area of Southern Namibia which is one of the best areas in the world to grow both table grapes and date palms, due to both climatic and marketing advantages. Since SilverStreet’s investment, the business has created 167 quality jobs and is helping to build a new date palm industry for Namibia.
See video here.
More information can be found on www.silverstreetcapital.com
For further information, please contact: info@silverstreetcapital.com