Heirs Holdings, TEF Sign Deal with Tanzanian Firm
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
The Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) and Heirs Holdings Limited (HH) have announced the completion of an impact investment programme with Mtanga Farms, a Tanzanian based organisation as part of efforts to boost food security in Africa.
A statement from the HH at the weekend, explained that the deal marked the first time an African organization and an investment firm have engaged together in impact investing, adding that the approach that is targeted at solving social and environmental problems in that country.
Specifically, it said that the deal will help Mtanga establish a seed potato industry, which it stated would significantly benefit more than 125,000 local smallholder farmers, “who have proven able to increase yields threefold when provided with clean seed potatoes.”
“The effort is remarkable in that it unblocks a market that has been neglected for the past 30 years, with no new potato varieties registered in Tanzania and no clean seed available for farmers for decades. Mtanga Farms Limited (MFL) is a mixed arable farming business operating in the Southern Tanzanian Highlands. MFL owns approximately 2,200 hectares under long-term lease and is currently planting wheat, barley, maize and certain oil crops,” it added.
The statement quoted the Founder and Chairman of HH and TEF, Mr. Tony Elumelu, to have said: “With this deal, we hope to set a new standard for both philanthropy and investing within Africa. Through impact investing, we seek to drive African economic growth from within by investing in businesses that generate social, environmental, and financial returns.”
