Sahel Capital and CCA  Investment in Crest Agro Products

Sahel Capital, fund managers for the Fund for Agricultural Finance in Nigeria (“FAFIN”) and CardinalStone Capital Advisers (“CCA”), a Nigerian Private Equity Fund Manager have investmented in Crest Agro Products Limited, an integrated cassava processor based in Kogi State.

Founded in 2013, Crest Agro was set up to harness opportunities in the cassava starch sub‐sector and the company seeks to become the leading producer of food grade cassava starch for industrial users in Nigeria and the broader West Africa sub‐region.

With 13,000 hectares of land for farming and an outgrower scheme that has reached over 400 smallholder farmers, Crest Agro has developed a robust farming operation which is well positioned to meet the raw material needs for its starch processing facility.

With this investment, Sahel Capital will be partnering with CCA, the promoters of Crest Agro, who have also decided to participate in this round of funding.

Commenting on the investment, Mr. Mezuo Nwuneli, Managing Partner at Sahel Capital, said, “The investment in the cassava sector speaks directly to two pillars of FAFIN’s investment strategy: import substitution and smallholder farmer impact, and after a thorough analysis of the opportunities in the sector, we decided to invest in Crest Agro.“

Commenting on the investment, Mr. Yomi Jemibewon, Managing Director at CCA said, “We believe that Crest Agro is on its way to successfully capturing the industrialization opportunity presented by Nigeria’s cassava value chain, and will play an important import substitution role for the economy.”

There is strong demand for starch in the FMCG, brewing and
pharmaceutical sectors, and as the Nigerian middle class
grows and more companies look to enhance their ability to
source raw materials locally, this demand‐supply gap is
expected to grow substantially.

Crest Agro is located in the
number one cassava growing region in Nigeria (North Central)
and with its starch processing plant coming on stream by the
end of the year, the company is uniquely positioned to grow
significantly and become a market leader within the next few
years.

Speaking on the investment, Mr. Dele Ogunlade, CEO of Crest Agro Products said, “I am truly excited by the challenge of building Crest Agro into Nigeria’s leading producer of cassava starch. My team has been laying the groundwork over the last few years, and the funding and strategic partnership from Sahel Capital and CCA will provide the support we need to achieve this vision.”