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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
Welcome to the third edition of the Pearl Capital Partners (PCP) Bi-Annual Newsletter. We are just past halfway through the year 2020 and are privileged to have you on board as we continue to provide you with the latest insights and information from the agribusiness ecosystem here in East Africa.
2019 was a special year for PCP with the successful celebration of the Final Yield Fund Launch, the new additional investments to the portfolio and our latest B Corporation Award.
The European Union (EU) through the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the National Social Security Fund Uganda (NSSF) worked together to catalyze investments in the Uganda agriculture value chains with the launch of the Yield Uganda Investment Fund in early 2017. An initial €12 million (UGX 46 billion) was made available to provide much needed access to capital for small and medium agri-businesses in Uganda.
The Yield Uganda Investment Fund (Yield Fund) is pleased to announce an investment in Newman Foods Ltd, in a blend of equity and quasi-equity. This marks the Fund’s 14th investment into the Ugandan agricultural sector.
