Africa-Press – Namibia. NAMIBIAN private equity company Eos Capital, which has N$1 billion in assets under management, has acquired a minority stake in the Namibian business interests of Cherry Irrigation for an undisclosed amount.
According to a statement from Eos Capital, the investment, under the Euphrates Agri Fund, will be used as growth capital within the Namibian business, with a view to increase irrigated land in the country and thereby improve food production.
Namibia has the potential to irrigate more than 15 500 hectares.
“We are excited about the growth potential of the business, given the need for Namibia to increase irrigation to protect itself from the impacts of climate change,” says Eos Capital associate principal Frederico van Wyk. “This will improve food security of the country, as well as increase the export of high value crops. Not only will this bring attractive returns for investors but will also have a sustainable positive impact on the country.”
This is in line with the Harambee Prosperity Plan II pillar on social progression, which aims to achieve household food security through the provision and installation of standard drip/sprinkler irrigation systems for crop and fodder production.
Cherry Irrigation is a South African company established in 1987, with irrigation design as the focus service. Other services include irrigation automation, as well as design and installation services. It has grown from three employees in 1987 to more than 70 permanent staff today.
Its head office is in South Africa, but Cherry has additional business units in Namibia and Angola. The Namibian unit was opened in 2020 and has seen strong growth, despite Covid.
Eos expects Cherry Irrigation to create between 20 and 25 permanent jobs and between 40 and 50 temporary jobs when installing large scale irrigation systems on Namibian farms.
Cherry Irrigation staff members have been trained in civil, mechanical, agricultural and chemical engineering, and they do overall farm layout, system planning, automation and control systems, topographical surveys, irrigation design, soil dam design, fertigation and water treatment processes, said Eos Capital.
This is the first deal for Eos under the banner of its Euphrates Agri Fund – the first Namibian agri private equity fund.
“Euphrates targets agriculture investments across the value chain through equity funding with the aim of generating long-term, stable returns for its investors and having a sustainable impact in Namibia on climate change, wealth inequality and the empowerment of women,” Eos added.
Eos also manages the N$500 million Namibian Infrastructure Development and Investment Fund, and the N$460 million Allegrow Fund, a general private equity fund.
For More News And Analysis About Namibia Follow Africa-Press
