Investment Profile: ZamCan Farms

Fourth Watch Global Analytics is an active investor in ZamCan Farms (Zambia) Limited through its investment firm Fourth Watch African Investments. ZamCan Farms is a newly-formed joint venture company in partnership with a Zambian registered business known as Karea Farms.

ZamCan Farms runs a mixed farm in the Fatima area of Ndola, Zambia. The farm has previously been operated by Karea Farms for several years. Current products include cabbage and other vegetables, poultry, and pork. In the future ZamCan hopes to add fish (pond farming) to its production. Although small by commercial standards, the farm has been growing steadily through the solid management and aggressive re-investment by the original owners. Through this joint venture, it is hoped that additional investment by Fourth Watch African Investments will help to accelerate that growth further. Fourth Watch will also bring in consultants to improve crop yields and growth rates for the farm.

Why invest in agriculture in Zambia/Africa? Zambia has abundant unused agricultural land, and current farming methods are in large part quite inefficient. Despite abundant, fertile land and a large surplus labour pool, local food production falls far below what is needed. This results in substantial imports of expensive protein (fish and chicken) from as far away as South Africa and China and hinders the development of local value addition. Vegetables are mostly grown during the seasonal rains, and are therefore expensive and in short supply during much of the year. This has the following negative consequences for health and economic development in Zambia:
- negative impact on CO2 emissions due to the long-distance transport used to import food
- minimal access to protein for most of the population (too expensive)
- vitamin deficiency for large parts of the year due to shortages of fresh vegetables
- serious nutrition issues (stunting, malnutrition, and high rates of child mortality)
For more info on this, see further this report from UNICEF Zambia:
http://www.unicef.org/zambia/5109_8461.html

ZamCan Farms hopes to address these issues by using modern intensive and sustainable agriculture techniques to reduce net CO2 footprint for food, improve access to affordable locally-grown protein, and provide year-round production of nutritious fresh vegetables for local markets. In the process, the farm can also create sustainable local employment.

After receiving a fair return on our original investment, we hope to eventually transfer ownership of the farm back to our Zambian partners, giving opportunity for the development of Zambian investment capital. In its place, we then hope in the future to recycle our original capital into starting or scaling up other Zambian businesses with local partners.

ZamCan Farms Limited is a private company and we are not looking for additional equity partners at this time. If you'd like other information about this venture, please contact Jerome.

Investment Profile: Diligence Limestone

Fourth Watch Global Analytics is an active investor in Diligence Limestone (Zambia) Limited through its investment firm Fourth Watch African Investments. Diligence Limestone (Zambia) Limited is a startup company that was formed in 2014. It is owned in partnership with five Zambian entrepreneurs. The principal line of business at this time is Diligence Brick & Block.

Diligence Brick & Block runs a factory in Ndola, Zambia that was commissioned in October 2014 and has been in continuous operation since then. Diligence produces hollow blocks and paver stones from limestone and cement, supplying the construction industry in the Copperbelt province.

Why construction products, and specifically blocks and pavers? The rapid economic growth of this region has created a shortage of high quality construction materials. Properly engineered blocks made with hydraulic press and pneumatic vibration are particularly hard to come by. By providing another option for local engineers and builders, we are able to remove one constraint on economic growth in the area. We use a labour-intensive operational design to help absorb some of the surplus unskilled labour in Ndola, offering fair compensation in excess of all minimum wages. In this way we provide another indirect stimulus to local economic growth.

After receiving a fair return on our original investment, we hope to reduce our holdings in Diligence Limestone in favour of our local Zambian partners, giving opportunity for the development of Zambian investment capital. In its place, we then hope in the future to recycle our original capital into starting or scaling up other Zambian businesses with local partners.

Diligence Limestone Limited is a private company and we are not looking for additional equity partners at this time. If you'd like other information about this venture, please contact Jerome.