Our investment
Description of the investment.
Description of the investment.
We invested $15 million in Valency International in 2023. Our investment will facilitate the construction of additional cashew processing and warehousing infrastructure in Nigeria. Increasing processing capacity will enable more value creation in country, as opposed to raw cashew nuts being exported to other countries for processing into a finished product. It will also allow Valency to offer a more traceable end product to its customers, with a smaller carbon footprint due to shorter shipping routes.
We will be the first institutional shareholder to invest in Valency. We are backing a strong management team with decades of industry experience and who are committed to partnering with us to drive the next phase of the company's growth.
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.
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 |
|---|
To support economic opportunity through direct job creation and improved market integration of farmers (SDG 8.3, 8.5). |
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How?
| Primary | Secondary |
|---|---|
|
Employment creation through the expansion of Valency’s processing and warehousing facilities, and increased market access for farmers as a result of increased sourcing needs. |
Economic enabler: Significant foreign exchange generation given the majority of output from Valency’s cashew operations under the expansion will be exported. |
Who?
| Stakeholder | Geography | Characteristics |
|---|---|---|
| Employees |
Nigeria |
Job creation at Valency’s new processing and warehousing facilities will overwhelmingly target women from low income communities in rural areas. |
| Farmers |
Nigeria |
Valency procures indirectly from farmers through traders/agents and cooperatives. The majority of farmers are smallholders. |
How much?
| Scale | Depth/Duration |
|---|---|
|
Under the priority projects Valency is looking to fund in Nigeria, they expect to create up to approximately 2,800 low-skilled and approximately 120 semi-skilled jobs. As a result of Valency's expansion, an estimated 60,000 farmers are expected to be reached through increased sourcing operations. |
Depth: The development of new processing and warehousing facilities will permanently increase capacity. 37 per cent of the total workforce are employed seasonally. Current Valency employees report improved economic outcomes and improvement in quality of life as a result of working at Valency. |
Contribution/additionality
| Contribution/additionality |
|---|
|
Risk
Evidence RiskOngoing impact felt by smallholder farmers will be difficult to monitor given sourcing is done indirectly through local buying agents/aggregators. |
Impact score
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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. |
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9 |
Environmental and social information
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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.
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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 on (i) conducting a labour and working conditions assessment, (ii) further developing a company wide ESMS, (iii) mapping the supply chain and developing a supply chain risk assessment and management system, and (iv) agreeing a phase out plan for banned or restricted hazardous chemicals.
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
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Key facts
- First published
:
When the investment was first published on the website database.
- March 2024
- Last updated
:
When the last quarterly update of the website database occurred.
- December 2024
- Project number
:
An identifier number shared by investments in the same project.
- D5278
- 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.
- South Asia, Southeast Asia, West Africa, Western Asia
- Country
:
The countries where the investment delivers impact. Where impact is delivered in multiple countries, this is indicated.
- Nigeria, Vietnam
- 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.
- Business and consumer services
- Sub sector
:
The sub-sector that the investment is made into; this provides a more granular level of detail than the ‘sector’ information
- Food Products
- Investment type :
- Equity
- Start date :
- October 2023
- Amount :
- $15m
- Currency of investment :
- USD
- Domicile
:
The company or investment fund’s place of incorporation.
- Singapore
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.
- First published
