JOHANNESBURG - Agri-based company AFGRI Group Holdings (AGH) said on Monday it had created a strategic grain storage platform vehicle in collaboration with a consortium of institutional investors to enable the growth of grain storage capacity in South Africa and on the continent and strengthen food security.
Under the agreement, effective March 31, the AFGRI Grain Silo Company will aim to expand current storage capacity from some 4.7 million tons to six million tons in the near future.
“This will allow us to not only cater for grain storage, but to expand into the storage of other types of commodities,” AGH CEO Chris Venter said in a statement.
The current 4.7 million tonne storage footprint consists of grain silos and bunker complexes throughout six provinces in South Africa.
Three new institutional investors, namely STANLIB Infrastructure Investments, Wiphold and the Land Bank, have committed to investing in the platform alongside AGH and its black economic empowerment employee partner Izitsalo Employee Investments.
The investment consortium will initially own storage facilities with a total value of R3,6 billion at inception.