British International Investment

Invictus Trading FZE

AfricaEast AfricaEast AsiaNorth AfricaSouth AsiaWestern AsiaFood & Agriculture

Invictus Trading (a subsidiary of Invictus Investment) is a key partner handling the import activity for the DAL Group. DAL Group is the leading food and agriculture business in Sudan.

Our investment

Description of the investment.

DAL Foods, part of the DAL Group, produces essential food products and employs 7,000 people across Sudan. It is the largest wheat importer in Sudan and its expansive point of sales network and distribution capabilities enables delivery of essential food products across the country - including commercial and consumer flour.

Our investment of $50 million will provide the necessary long-term working capital required to allow DAL to import wheat and boost the supply of flour to thousands of bakeries, retail outlets and businesses, enabling the consistent flow of staple food products for millions of Sudanese people.

Impact information

Applies to investments made from 2019 onwards. The tabs in this section define what we expect to achieve through the investment, assessing the potential impact of the investment against six dimensions of impact. You can find more details on our methodology of assessing impact here.

What?

Impact

Improved access to food in Sudan, particularly wheat-based staple food products.

How?

How?

Maintain food production and distribution, specifically of wheat-based products, primarily through access to consumer and commercial flour products.

Who?

Stakeholder Geography Characteristics
Customers, indirectly reached through local businesses.

Sudan

DAL’s products cater to customers across the income spectrum (Living Standard Measure categories A to D, which comprises 87 per cent of the population).

How much?

Scale Depth/Duration

$50 million of working capital financing will allow DAL to procure ~280k MT of wheat imports. This is the equivalent of over 20 billion pieces of bread for people in Sudan.

Impact is expected to be deep as DAL Foods plays a critical role in Sudan’s food security - it has the largest wheat milling capacity in Sudan and has the leading market share in B2B bakery flour.

Contribution/additionality

Contribution/additionality
  • Financial additionality: Capital not offered in sufficient quantity nor on the same terms.
  • Value additionality: We have agreed an Environmental and Social Action Plan with the company, which includes improvements to environmental and social policies and management systems.

Risk

Evidence Risk
  • End customers are reached indirectly through third parties (including supermarkets, bakeries, hospitality and food wholesale outlets/retailers). The exact scale and profile of customers reached is therefore difficult to monitor.

Impact score

Impact score (at point of investment)

The Impact Score is a tool to help us manage our performance against our strategic impact objectives. It is designed to incentivise investments that support our productive, sustainable, and inclusive objectives. You can find out more here.

The Impact Score is published for investments made from 2022 onwards. The Impact Scores are calculated at the point of investment. We publish the Impact Scores of new investments annually, once the information has been externally assured by an independent third party.

8

Environmental and social information

  • Environmental and social summary

    A high-level description of the environmental and social aspects of the investment. This may include a summary of key environmental and social risks identified during environmental and social due diligence (ESDD); key elements of an environmental and social action plan (ESAP); or ways in which we plan to support the investee improve environmental and social standards, such as through their environmental and social management system (ESMS); as well as any other priority areas agreed with the investee.

  • Environmental and social risk

    A risk category rating, which indicates the level of environmental and social risk associated with an investment. For an explanation of the categorisations used, see here. We consistently provide an environmental and social risk category for all investments screened from 2023 onwards.

Environmental and social summary

We agreed an ESAP with the company which includes improvements to environmental and social policies and ESMS, recruitment of additional environmental and social capacity, improvements to worker grievance management and the enhancement of environmental and social management measures for the company's contractors.

Reporting and Complaints Mechanism

The Reporting and Complaints Mechanism allows anyone outside BII to report alleged breaches of the business integrity or environmental and social provisions of BII’s Policy on Responsible Investing. This includes breaches made by BII, a BII investee, or a portfolio company of a fund in which BII has invested. The Reporting and Complaints Mechanism Rules are available here. Reports and complaints can be submitted by email to reportsandcomplaints@bii.co.uk or by mail. See more details on our Reporting and Complaints Mechanism here.

For any other general enquiries contact us at enquiries@bii.co.uk

  • Key facts

    Last updated

    When the last quarterly update of the website database occurred.

    :
    June 2024
    Project number

    An identifier number shared by investments in the same project.

    :
    D1947
    Status

    The current status of the investment (green flag for active and red flag for exited).

    :
    Active
    Region

    The geographical region where the country is located. We currently invest in Africa, South Asia, South East Asia and the Caribbean. In 2023, BII’s investment mandate was extended allowing it to invest in regional funds linked to Ukraine, with the majority of activity expected to begin post-war. Investments outside these regions were made prior to 2012 under previous investment mandates.

    :
    Africa, East Africa, East Asia, North Africa, South Asia, Western Asia
    Country

    The countries where the investment delivers impact. Where impact is delivered in multiple countries, this is indicated.

    :
    Sudan
    Sector

    We prioritise those sectors that facilitate development and need our capital the most. Our priority sectors contribute towards many of the Sustainable Development Goals. They range from investing in the power infrastructure that will provide people with better access to electricity, to investing in financial institutions that direct capital to the individuals and businesses that need it the most.

    :
    Food & Agriculture

    We provide capital in the following ways: directly – through direct equity, direct debt, guarantees and other non-intermediated financial instruments; and indirectly – principally through investment funds.

    For direct investments and fund investments, this is the date BII committed capital to the investments. This is typically the date on which legal agreements are signed by all parties.

    For the portfolio companies of our fund investments, this is the date (either the month or the quarter) on which the fund committed capital to the portfolio company.

    For direct equity investments, this is the date at which British International Investment exited the investment.

    For debt investments, this is the date at which the final debt repayment was made.

    For funds, this is the date at which the fund was terminated.

    For underlying fund investments, this is the date at which the fund manager exited the investment.

    The total amount committed, per financial instrument, per investment, on the date BII becomes subject to a binding legal obligation to provide funding or assume a contingent liability. This information is provided in US dollars.

    For direct investments, this is the amount that BII has committed to the business or project. For fund investments, this is the amount BII has committed to the fund.

    The currency in which the investment was made.

    Investment type :
    Debt
    Start date :
    December 2022
    Amount :
    $50m
    Currency of investment :
    USD
    Domicile

    The company or investment fund’s place of incorporation.

    :
    United Arab Emirates

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