Menu
54 Capital FMCG
  • Home
  • About us
    • Our history
    • Vision, mission & values
    • Our executive team
  • Our brands
    • Tena
    • 555
    • Aura
    • Aqua safe
    • Chef Luca
  • Companies
    • Health Care Food Manufacturers S.C.
    • Articrafts Industries PLC
    • Zak Ethiopia Manufacturing and Trading PLC
    • Astco Food Complex Factory S.C.
    • Debre Birhan Natural Spring Water S.C.
  • Business activities
    • EHS
    • Production
    • Supply chain
    • Planning
    • Logistics
    • Sales and Distribution
    • Marketing
    • Finance
    • IT
    • HR
  • Sustainability
    • Sustainability
    • CSR
    • EHS
  • News room
    • Articles
    • Latest news
    • Press release
    • Events
    • Gallery
  • Career
  • Contact us

NORFUND INVESTS $ 21 MILLION IN SAMANU (54 CAPITAL FMCG GROUP OF COMPANIES)

Joachim Yebouet, 54 Capital FMCG Chief Executive Officer (CEO)

SAMANU (54 Capital FMCG Group of companies) is a platform company with well-established brands operating in Ethiopia’s main FMCG sub-sectors (Tena Edible Oils, 555 and Aura Soap & Detergents, and Chef Luca wheat products). It has announced a $ 21 Million growth capital investment in Ethiopia from Norfund, a Norwegian investment fund focused on building sustainable businesses and industries in developing countries, to increase local production of Edible Oil and expanding into Agro-processing that will create jobs, increase food security, and provide income for up to 200,000 smallholder farmers.

Saad Aouad, 54 Capital FMCG PE Advisors’ Chief Investment Officer, said, “It is a fantastic achievement for our investments in Ethiopia and our local management team to receive further institutional support. It is a testament to what we have achieved in terms of nurturing high-quality, popular brands and achieving scale through capacity expansion and how we intend to develop the next phase of the business. This investment demonstrates the robustness of this strategy to further enhance the value chain in Ethiopia, which will undoubtedly benefit from Norfund’s extensive experience across the continent.”

Joachim Yebouet, 54 Capital FMCG Chief Executive Officer, said, “We are very excited about the future. This is a step towards our vision of improving the lives and livelihoods of Ethiopians by leveraging the country’s abundant natural resources and talent. The substantial new foreign investment will strengthen our presence in Ethiopia and contribute to the broader development agenda. Backward integration will enable structured local edible oil production while developing Ethiopian agriculture.” The investment by Norfund will fund the construction of a new solvent extraction plant to produce edible oils based on locally sourced sesame, sunflower and soya beans in its refineries. By reducing the dependency on imported raw materials, the investment aims to create jobs in value-addition and increase Ethiopia’s food security. The completion of a vertical integration project will also allow for increased export opportunities within the sectors the company already operates. To ensure enough volume of locally produced oilseeds for its refineries, the company intends to develop large oilseeds clusters in Ethiopia over the next six years, providing livelihoods for 200,000 smallholder farmers. In the first six months post investment, the objective is to identify 642 clusters and sign contracts with around 5-7000 smallholder farmers. Norfund, through its Business Support Facility, plans to use grant funding to assist contracted smallholder farmers with inputs like high quality seeds, fertilizers, training and capacity building, as well as agricultural technology to boost productivity.

Andreas Davidsen, Norfund’s VP of Scalable Enterprises – Agribusiness & Manufacturing, said: “We are excited to partner with SAMANU and support the execution of their vertical integration strategy, creating jobs and increasing food security. We strongly believe in the opportunities of local food production in Ethiopia and Norfund looks forward to working closely with the SAMANU management team and 54 Capital to help implement best in class practises and solutions”. SAMANU (54 Capital FMCG Group of companies) is already home to some of Ethiopia’s leading FMCG brands and has ambitious plans to expand its product offering to meet rising demand for high quality locally produced brands. The investment, Norfund’s first in manufacturing in Ethiopia, signals strong institutional backing for the platform.

ABOUT 54 CAPITAL: 54 FMCG is a leading business group in Ethiopia. Our mission is to migrate Ethiopia from a heavily import reliant and raw resources export country to a self-sufficient manufacturing hub by developing companies and brands of high global standards that Ethiopians can enjoy every day. We began our journey in 2013 through an investment in a small refinery and quickly expanded into other FMCG products. We now have some of the most iconic local FMCG brands, making us the fastest growing conglomerate in Ethiopia. Today 54 FMCG is home to several notable FMCG brands such as Tena Edible Oil, 555 Household Care, Chef Luca Pasta and Aquasafe Natural Mineral Water. Going forward, 54 FMCG plans on taking ambitious steps to further expand its portfolio through investments in direct manufacturing and the vertical integration of its businesses. For more information, please visit www.54capitalfmcg.com (https:// www.54capitalfmcg.com/)

ABOUT NORFUND: Norfund is the Norwegian Investment Fund for developing countries. Our mission is to create jobs and to improve lives by investing in businesses that drive sustainable development. Norfund is owned and funded by the Norwegian Government and is the Government’s most important tool for strengthening the private sector in developing countries, and for reducing poverty. Norfund’s mandate is defined by the Norfund Act of 1997. The Act states that Norfund’s role is to assist in building sustainable businesses and industries in developing countries by providing equity capital and other risk capital. Norfund helps to build sustainable businesses that would not otherwise be developed because of the high risks involved. Norfund’s main investment region is Sub-Saharan Africa. Norfund also invests in selected countries in Asia and Latin America.

Contact 54 FMCG

Noah Plaza, Bole Road, 11th floor, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

+251 116 673329

info@54capitalfmcg.com

Useful links

54 Capital

54 FMCG

Tena Cooking Oil

555 Soap and Detergent

Aquasafe

Tena Cooking Oil

555 Soap and Detergent

Subscribe to get the latest

54FMCG represents the following five companies which are engaged in the business of manufacturing consumer-focused products in Ethiopia namely: Health Care Food Manufacturing S.C., ZAK Ethiopia Manufacturing S.C., ASTCO Food Complex Factory S.C., Debrebirhan Natural Spring Water S.C. and Articraft Industries PLC. Today these companies manufacture well-known brands for the Ethiopian market including Tena Oil, 555 Laundry Soap and Aura Beauty Soap, Chef Luca Pasta and Aquasafe Mineral Water from their facilities.

© 2023,54 FMCG. All rights reserved.

Saad Aouad

Saad started his career in 2004 in JP Morgan’s London M&A Middle East team, moving to the TMT team in 2005 where he helped execute several transactions including : (i) Advising leading regional telecom operators in their international expansion – namely Orascom, Qtel and Etisalat (incl. its $2.9 billion acquisition of Egypt’s third mobile license). (ii) Advising French media group Lagardere on its acquisition of a 20% stake in Canal+ Group (€1.5 billion+), and KKR on its acquisition of Pages Jaunes (€6 billion+). In 2008, Saad joined Kingdom Zephyr Africa Management (KZAM) the leading pan-African private equity fund at the time. At KZAM, Saad sourced, executed, managed and exited multiple transactions including the full exit from CNIA Saada in Morocco (insurance company), where he led the successful IPO. He also worked on a number of transactions that became a success in the Africa PE space, namely OSEAD Mining, IHS Towers, Banque Atlantique and GTA (insurance).

In 2011 he moved to London based asset manager Duet Group where he co-founded and managed its Africa private equity platform. At Duet, he led the origination and execution of the second largest private equity transaction in Ethiopia to date ($90 million in Dashen Brewery; the second largest brewery in the country) as well as investments into QCIL in Uganda.

Saad graduated from EM Lyon with an MSc in Finance. He is a native Arabic and French speaker, and is fluent in English.

Joachim Yebouet

Joachim Yebouet holds over 30 years of extensive experience with the private and public sector organizations, having covered several senior management positions in multinationals and family conglomerates, and in-depth operational management expertise across Europe, Africa and the Middle East. He has held the position of Vice-President for Foods Supply Chain at Unilever and was responsible for Africa, Middle East and Turkey region for around 10 years. He re-joined FOODCO in 2018 after a three stent as CEO of Tiger Brands East African Industries from 2015 to 2018. From 2009 to 2013 he held the role of COO at Al Islami Foods in the UAE.

Joachim was a speaker at the 2017 The Economist & Unido GMIS (Global Manufacturing & Industrialization summit) in Abu Dhabi. He was also a Speaker at the World Manufacturing Symposium at Kings College Cambridge in the UK, and at the World Foods Secure Chain conference in Hong Kong speaking about Foods chain integrity. He was also speaker at Gulfoods in Dubai also at the Wharton Club Africa Executive CEO Forum in Addis Ababa and most recently at Indus Foods World Supermarket chain in India. Joachim was a member of the 2016 Deloitte C-Executive Business Development Roadshow in West Africa.

Joachim is French National and holds a Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering.

Ferehiwot Teka

Frehiwot rejoined 54capFMCG in January 2020 and she is responsible for all Finance department activities including cash flow management, banking relations, Record control and reporting, Auditing, Tax, IT, Budgeting and forecasting, annual and management reports including shareholder reports, Relationship with investors and Shareholders are some of her responsibilities. She has more than 13 years of experience in different organizations in a role of Deputy CFO, Finance Manager, Process Improvement manager, Financial Planning and Analysis Manager.

Frehiwot holds an MBA from Jimma university and earns a BA in Economics from Addis Ababa University. Currently she is working on her CMA certification.

Edom Dawit

Edom Joined the company in April 2020 and responsible for all Human resources department including employee engagement, compensation and benefits, staffing strategies, performance management and talent development across the organization.  She has over 16 years of combined Administrative & Human Resources experience.  Prior to joining 54 FMCG, Edom worked at Ethio-chicken as Human Resources Director, worked at the Agricultural Transformation Agency (ATA) in different Human Resources profession and other different organizations under the human resources function. Edom holds Master of Businness Administration; specialized in human resources Management, Bachelor of Science degree & diploma in computer science.  Edom has certificate of Leadership from African Management initiative.

Aziz Iraqi

Aziz Iraqi is experienced executive with solid history of success in business and commercial aspects of international FMCG, food, bakery, personal care, and home care within MNC and family businesses. Administered company operations and commercial strategies in UAE/GCC and Africa, as International Commercial Director at Moulin D’or/ Gapaco for 4 years, Sales and Marketing Director at Al Islami Foods, and other significant leadership positions through out his professional years.

Aziz Iraqi is a native Arabic and French speaker, and is fluent in English and Spanish.

Abdul Bazeer

Sales & Distribution specialist experienced in business development, managing large team, greenfield projects, NPD launch with hands-on workable solution. Held executive positions in multinational companies like Glaxo, Nestle, Henkel, Kuwaiti Danish Dairy.

Started sales career with Pharma industry and moved on to FMCG domain. 27 years of rich and diversified experience. Managed all types of trade channels like General / Modern Retail, Institutions / Corporates for bulk sales, HoReCa Customers, online & alternate channels.

Handled diversified product categories like beverages, baby foods, chocolates & confectionery, culinary, detergents, home & personal care and sports nutrition.

Abraham Mekonnen

Abraham started his career as a Business Studies teacher in 2008 at The British International School, in 2009 he become The Business Manager and the after 1 year Human Resources and Administration Manger of the same company. In 2013 he changed a sector and joined the manufacturing industry Kalilty Foods S.Co (Cherealia) as Human Resources Development and Administration Department Head, in a summary he has been working in a Brewery, Cash and Carry retail chain and then joined 54FMCG 2017 as a director of Human Resources.

Currently Abraham is serving as Chief of Staff and corporate relations.

Abraham holds MA in Human Resources, BA in Business Management and Diploma in International Management. He is Ethiopian Citizen. He is a native Amharic speaker, fluent in English.   

Mirkarim Yakubov

Mirkarim started his career at Arthur Andersen LLP in Russia, and after completing his business degree, his professional career primarily focused in FMCG sector. He spent several years at Philip Morris Inc.’s Corporate Audit focusing on Food Business of Kraft Foods Inc. (prior to its spin off) working in EMEA region.  He later joined Kraft Foods Inc. (later known as Mondelez International Inc.) where he led CEE & MEA regional Finance Controlling organization and supported the execution of M&A transactions (acquisitions of Cadbury Inc., Danone Biscuit, Family Nutrition, Kar Gida). Prior to joining 54 FMCG companies, Mirkarim led corporate finance organization for Global SQRC at Reckitt Benckiser plc in the UK and supported integration of Mead Johnson Nutrition.

Mirkarim holds a MBA from IESE Business School in Spain. He is native/fluent in English, Russian and conversational in German and Spanish.

Scroll Up
  • Home
  • About us
    • Our history
    • Vision, mission & values
    • Our executive team
  • Our brands
    • Tena
    • 555
    • Aura
    • Aqua safe
    • Chef Luca
  • Companies
    • Health Care Food Manufacturers S.C.
    • Articrafts Industries PLC
    • Zak Ethiopia Manufacturing and Trading PLC
    • Astco Food Complex Factory S.C.
    • Debre Birhan Natural Spring Water S.C.
  • Business activities
    • EHS
    • Production
    • Supply chain
    • Planning
    • Logistics
    • Sales and Distribution
    • Marketing
    • Finance
    • IT
    • HR
  • Sustainability
    • Sustainability
    • CSR
    • EHS
  • News room
    • Articles
    • Latest news
    • Press release
    • Events
    • Gallery
  • Career
  • Contact us
Go to mobile version