Norton Rose Fulbright has advised UK-based social impact investor AgDevCo and KfW, the German development bank, on the establishment of an investment holding company, The Lending for African Farming Company (LAFCo), in Mauritius.

LAFCo provides reliable access to finance small-to-medium-sized African farming enterprises operating anywhere in Africa. Their aim is to fill a critical financing gap in the agricultural sector and support the equitable and inclusive growth of the sector. It also offers flexible working capital loans to agricultural enterprises that purchase crops from smallholder farmers, or that provide them with essential inputs, such as seeds and fertilizers, to boost their yields. The company’s capital structure features a blend of public, philanthropic and private capital with an anchor investment by KfW, using funds from the German government, and additional investment by AgDevCo.

Norton Rose Fulbright’s investment funds lawyers in South Africa, Louise Campion and Lance Roderick, advised on the English law aspects of the structuring of LAFCo while the Mauritius law aspects were dealt with by BLC Chambers. United States tax and regulatory advice were provided by the practice’s lawyers, Sheldon Elefant (New York) and Rich Fagerer (Munich), respectively.

The South African investment funds team has been ranked a tier 1 practice for the last four years by Legal 500 with clients rating their service as “miles ahead of the rest” and “brilliant”.