East Africa: Norfund invests in new paper recycling facility
Norfund and I&M Bank have partnered to finance Kim-Fay East Africa’s new recycling facility in Nairobi.
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Norfund and I&M Bank have partnered to finance Kim-Fay East Africa’s new recycling facility in Nairobi. Kim-Fay is a supplier of hygiene and household products.
Norfund has invested $5.5 million in the form of a senior loan to Kim-Fay to support the construction of a new recycling facility. This loan, combined with financing from I&M Bank, is an important strategic step for the company.
Kim-Fay is heavily reliant on importing virgin paper, which it processes and sells in its East African markets. With the new recycling facility, expected to be completed by 2025, the company will use recycled wastepaper sourced from Kenya in the production of products.
“We are excited about this partnership with I&M Bank to finance Kim-Fay’s expansion and development of a state-of-the-art wastepaper recycling facility in Nairobi. This project aligns perfectly with Norfund’s mandate to support financially and environmentally sustainable and scalable enterprises in developing economies to create job opportunities for our young people and improve lives,” said William Nyaoke, director for East Africa at Norfund.
One of the goals of Kim-Fay’s expansion is to make important household products such as toilet paper, baby wipes and diapers affordable to lower-income groups. The demand for hygiene products is rapidly increasing, driven by a growing middle class in the region.
Kim-Fay primarily operates in Kenya but also exports to Uganda, Tanzania, and Rwanda, and continues to expand its presence in East Africa.
Kim-Fay’s CEO, Raj Bains, commented: “We’re thrilled about Norfund and I&M Bank’s investment, which will facilitate the development of the reverse integration facility which will pave the way for Kim-Fay to enter a major sub-segment in the industry. We extend our gratitude to all stakeholders who contributed to this transaction, with special thanks to IMBC for their crucial support. This milestone represents a significant step toward transforming wastepaper, that would otherwise be discarded as garbage, into value added tissue paper and establishing a fair and transparent circular economy that will benefit all stakeholders, including bringing a very good product at an affordable price to the market.”
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