Yalelo Limited
Region and country of operations: Africa, Zambia
Jurisdiction of registration: Zambia
Business sector: Aquaculture
Date of agreement (month/year): 8/2019
Finnfund’s financing: USD 6,000,000
Share of Finnfund’s financing: 26%
Instrument: Equity
Size of project/financing: USD 25,000,000
Environmental and social category: B+
Project description
Yalelo Limited is the largest fully integrated aquaculture company in the Sub-Saharan Africa with 9,000 tons of harvest last year. The company was established in 2011 and produces tilapia in Siavonga, on Lake Kariba, about 190 km from Lusaka. Despite the fast growth, Yalelo is still relatively small and it reached the EBITDA break-even last year. The company employs about 850 permanent and casual workers.
Finnfund and FMO are together offering funding of USD 18 million for the expansion investments, working capital and re-financing. With the funding, Yalelo can expand its annual production to 25,000 tons.
Main development impact
As a leading aquaculture company in the Sub-Saharan Africa, Yalelo’s impact can be significant on Zambia’s aquaculture industry, its productivity and the development of aquaculture value chain (both upstream and downstream). Yalelo’s production help increase consistent supply of sustainably produced affordable animal protein in Zambia.
Yalelo is also providing vital formal employment opportunities for both in its rural production site as well as across the distribution chain. The company is working towards a better gender balance within its work force and looking into possibilities to better track its impact on people’s livelihoods in cooperation with Finnfund’s development team. Yalelo is also classified as a gender project.
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