Finnfund invests in Valency International to foster sustainable cashew production in Côte d’Ivoire

Finnfund, a Finnish development financier and an impact investor, announces today a USD 10 million debt facility commitment to Valency International Trading SARL, a Valency International Group company. Valency International Group is a diversified, integrated supply chain manager in agri commodities and agri inputs with subsidiaries in 15 countries.

With the funding provided by Finnfund, the company is setting up a new state of the art cashew processing plant in Côte d’Ivoire and expected to become a leading cashew kernel processor in the country.

The facility is expected to contribute to the development of sustainable cashew production and processing in Côte d’Ivoire. Through this investment, Valency will increase domestic cashew nut processing capacity, create quality jobs particularly for low-skilled workers, especially women, and develop supply chains relying on smallholder cashew producers in the rural areas.

Enhancing sustainability in cashew production

Supervisor Guei Marie Ange Manuella in Valency International’s cashew peeling centre in Attingué, Côte d’Ivoire.

Once operational, the new processing plant is expected to have a processing capacity of 45,000 tons of raw cashew nut per year. With this capacity, the company is expected to generate approximately 2,000 direct jobs and cooperate and provide income for up to 10,000 smallholders. Due to the large capacity of the processing plant, the company is expected to reach up to 5% of the cashew farmers in the country.

Valency is committed to responsible business practices and to developing sustainability and transparency in the cashew supply chain. Valency will, for instance, develop a sustainable cashew supply chain management program, that allows them to work directly with smallholders and reduce the role of the middlemen in the current supply chain, hence provide more income for the smallholders.

Sumit Jain, Chief Executive Officer at Valency International Group, said: “We are very grateful to have a partner like Finnfund to support cashew growers/farmers in the region, enhance sustainability and improve livelihood through our operations in Côte d’Ivoire. The cashew processing plant is line with our shared vision outlined as part of Valency’s Food Ingredients strategy, and commitment to develop a long-term sustainable business model in Africa.”

Markus Pentikäinen, Investment Manager at Finnfund, said: “We are glad to support the growth and development of Valency’s operations in Côte d’Ivoire, and simultaneously, enhance sustainability in cashew production. With the new processing plant, the company will generate jobs and income for thousands of people.”

More information:

Finnfund
Markus Pentikäinen, Investment Manager, markus.pentikainen@finnfund.fi, tel. +358 50 339 7726
Kirsi Pere, Communications Manager, kirsi.pere@finnfund.fi, tel. +358 40 620 9767 (media contacts)

Valency
Navin Askaran, Group CFO, navin.askaran@valencyinternational.com, tel. +65 9727 7338

Valency International Pte Limited (Valency International) is an international integrated supply chain manager with its headquarters situated in Singapore. In a short span of time, Valency International has expanded its network across various continents. We are present across agri value chain from origination and supply chain, processing, branded retail to B2B distribution. For more information, please visit www.valencyinternational.com

Finnfund is a Finnish development financier and impact investor. We build a sustainable future and generate lasting impact by investing in businesses that solve global development challenges. We invest 200–250 million euros in 20–30 companies in developing countries each year. Our focus sectors include renewable energy, sustainable forestry, sustainable agriculture, financial institutions, and digital infrastructure and solutions. Today Finnfund’s investments and commitments total about 1.070 billion euros, half of them in Africa. The company has 90 employees. For more information, please visit www.finnfund.fi