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Sahel Capital, an investment company with a focus on agriculture and food sectors in sub-Saharan Africa, has finalized a $1 million loan agreement with Camino Ruiz, a Kenyan company that specializes in fish processing and distribution.
According to Sahel Capital, $800,000 of the loan will be used to fund capital projects, while $200,000 has been allocated to support working capital needs.
The financing comes from Sahel’s Social Enterprise Fund for Agriculture in Africa (SEFAA).
Founded in 2008 by Joseph Mureithi, Camino Ruiz supplies affordable fish products to Kenya’s retail market.
The company operates a processing plant in Nairobi, where it handles the filleting, freezing, and pre-cooking of tilapia fish.
It sources its fish from over 4,000 smallholder farmers located around Lake Victoria, as well as from its sister company, Global Tilapia Husbandry.
Zakayo Ngetich, Sahel Capital’s Vice President for East and Southern Africa, highlighted that this is SEFAA’s first investment in aquaculture.
He added that Camino Ruiz is well-positioned in the growing fish industry, noting its strong presence across 180 supermarkets, 25 branded retail locations, and a digital sales platform.
The loan is expected to strengthen Camino Ruiz’s production and distribution capacity as it works toward becoming a leading brand for fish products in Kenya.
Salient Predictions, a startup that develops AI-powered weather forecasting solutions, has secured a $2.9 million grant courtesy of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Camco, a prominent climate and impact fund manager, has announced the first close of $107 million for its Renewable Energy Performance Platform 2 (REPP 2) debt fund, with an additional $78 million pledged pending certain conditions.
A landmark digital transformation initiative for Kenya has been announced, with Microsoft and UAE-based artificial intelligence (AI) leader G42 pledging an initial investment of $1 billion.
