Tomato Jos secures $2 million naira debt facility from Sabou Capital

Sabou Capital has invested $2 million in Tomato Jos, the lender announced on 22 May. The money is an impact-linked debt facility denominated in naira, and Sabou structured its returns to rise with the company's social and economic impact. Sabou is an Abuja-based fund that provides credit and structured debt to growth-stage SMEs in Nigeria, Senegal and Côte d'Ivoire.

What Tomato Jos does

Tomato Jos makes tomato paste from its own processing plant and a network of smallholder farms. It sells a branded paste range in West Africa. Mira Mehta founded the company in 2014 and is its CEO, and it is based in Kaduna in northern Nigeria.

Traction

The company has 204 direct employees and is supplied by more than 3,000 smallholder farmers, 60% of them women. Its farmer community covers more than 10,000 people and their families. It meets all four criteria of the 2X Challenge, a gender-lens investment benchmark.

Market and plans

Sabou's announcement says a recent federal ban on tomato paste imports has opened the market to domestic producers. Nigeria uses more than 2.3 million tons of fresh tomatoes a year, and imports historically covered up to 90% of processed tomato demand. The funds will support business growth, a larger smallholder network and more processing capacity. Surayyah Ahmad, managing partner at Sabou Capital, said: "Tomato Jos is exactly the kind of business we back".

At a glance

• Company: Tomato Jos
• Raised: $2 million
• Round: Impact-linked debt facility in naira
• Lender: Sabou Capital
• Founded: 2014, by Mira Mehta
• Based in: Kaduna, Nigeria
• Markets: Nigeria and West Africa
• Key figure: More than 3,000 smallholder farmers