Mauritius Investor Acquires Tanzanian Agribusiness

Loinette Capital, a Mauritius asset-based finance provider, recently acquired Hortanzia Limited, a Tanzanian farm based near Arusha that produces crops including coffee, French beans, baby corn, chives and mint, mainly for export.

Loinette is a Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) lender active in 10 countries in Africa: Ghana, Ivory Coast, Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Zambia, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, and Tanzania.

Commenting on the deal, Lawrence Polkinghorne, Executive and deal lead at Loinette, said: “As an SME-focused group offering bespoke funding solutions across sub-Saharan Africa, this deal presents a fantastic opportunity for Loinette. Tanzania is an important growth area for our organisation and we look forward to continuing our partnership with Clyde & Co as we continue to invest across the region.”

Clyde & Co, an international law firm, was the advisor of the deal. Michael Strain, Partner and Head of Corporate – East Africa at Clyde & Co in Dar es Salaam, commented: “This deal is a clear demonstration of the incredible opportunities that exist in the Tanzanian agribusiness sector. We look forward to continuing to support Loinette as they expand across the region in the coming years.”

Tanzania Agribusiness

Tanzania has an estimated 1,000–2,000 large scale farms and estates with an average size of 1,100 hectares (ha), while the country’s available irrigable land stands at 29 million ha, which leaves the sector well below its potential.

This is due to smallholder crop farmers’ limited access to modern farm technologies and inputs, inadequate storage infrastructure, high transport and marketing costs, low technology adoption, and lack of affordable inputs such as improved seed and quality fertilizer.

The Government of Tanzania (GoT), together with development partners and commercial agribusiness investors, is working to address these challenges by creating stronger links between commercial and smallholder farming, and by developing more accessible routes to market for agribusinesses.