The Africa Fund of private equity company Aureos Capital (Mauritius; www.aureos.com) has invested USD 5.35m in Ghanaian plastics manufacturer Bio-Plastics (Accra). The funds are to go towards doubling the latter’s capacity – currently at 2,640 t/y – to some 6,000 t/y, scheduled to come on stream this summer. In addition, Aureos said the money would allow the Ghanaian firm to start producing biodegradable plastics.

With that in mind, Aureos said it would facilitate discussions with one of its investee companies – Indonesian packaging manufacturer Tirta Marta (Jakarta) – with a view towards supplying the Ghanaian firm with its low-cost biodegradable resin. In addition, the US fund also plans to construct a recycling plant in the West African country to deal with non-biodegradable waste.

Bio-Plastics’ 70 employees produce mostly packaging for producers of sachet water as well as carrier bags. Almost 40% of company turnover is generated by exports to west African markets, including Togo, Benin, Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger.

Commenting on the investment, Aureos West Africa’s Jacob Kholi said: “Ghana, and West Africa more generally are a huge growth market for packaging, but with insufficient capacity at present, and virtually none in biodegradable plastics, making this a great investment opportunity.” According to Aureos’ estimates, Africa’s plastic packaging market grew by an average of 8.1% over the last five years, compared to a 3.6% growth rate in western Europe.