Ovamba has facilitated a large-scale cocoa distribution deal
Cameroon-based FinTech Ovamba, a winner at the African FinTech Awards 2017, has brokered a €30 million deal for the purchase and export of cocoa for Cameroonian commodity marketing company Producam.
Ovamba uses blockchain and other new technologies to connect investors with African SMEs and is now looking to expand into the export of commodities after initially focusing on domestic trade.
Ovamba is a direct impact investor and syndicates larger funds that meet its “purpose-driven profit” philosophy, combining off-balance sheet asset-backed lending with e-commerce, logistics and flexible warehousing to provide SMEs in Africa’s trade and commodities sectors with capital.
Ovamba brought onboard African Merchant Capital, Courtyard Capital and an unnamed Japanese marketplace lending platform to fund 10 000 tonnes of cocoa aggregation and export for Producam.
Ovamba’s co-founder and CEO, Marvin Cole, comments on the deal: “Ovamba’s vision for cash crops commodity marketing is to make it possible for farmers to get good prices for their produce and to determine the size of their profit margin. Ovamba plans to fund the transformational growth and manufacturing potential of as many commodity marketing companies as we possibly can.”
The FinTech is looking to fund other coffee and cocoa suppliers in the Central and West Africa regions.
“We are really excited to have expanded our funding expertise into commodities exports. Many sectors are affected by the downturn in the oil industry. Helping Africa’s best performing sectors is good for the economy and is a smart portfolio differentiator for our investors,” says Viola Llewellyn, co-founder and president of Ovamba.
