Kinshasa, 16/11/2022
At the convening of the Extraordinary General Meeting of Plantations et Huileries du Congo (PHC) on Tuesday, November 15th, Straight KKM2 was officially admitted into PHC’s statutes as the new majority shareholder of the company.
With this update of the statutes, the current shareholding of PHC is as follows:
- The Congolese State: 23,8%
- Straight KKM2: 76,2%
Straight KKM2 is a consortium that includes entities managed by Kuramo Capital, which is chaired by Mr. Walé Adeosun of Nigeria, and Mafuta Investment Holding, which is chaired by Mr. Kalaa Mpinga of the DRC. Straight KKM2 made its first investment in PHC in 2017 as a minority shareholder before taking control as a majority shareholder in November 2020.
Straight KKM2's investment in PHC is its first investment in the DRC, though Kuramo Capital has already made investments in more than 150 companies in 20 countries across Africa. One of Straight KKM2's goals in investing in PHC was to transfer the company's leadership into Congolese hands, which was accomplished with the appointment of Ms. Monique Gieskes as the company's Director General in February 2021. Straight KKM2's promotion of Congolese leadership has led to significant advances in the management of the company, resulting in a 12% increase in PHC’s palm oil production between 2020 and 2021.
As majority shareholder, Straight KKM2 has introduced a new vision for the company, that of creating shared prosperity through agribusiness. As part of this vision, PHC has completed key social development projects such as building schools, health centers and employee housing.
"Within the framework of the vision of the new majority shareholder, namely, ‘shared prosperity through agribusiness,’ we are now fulfilling the expectations of the company’s various stakeholders, particularly for the benefit of the workers, shareholders, surrounding communities, and clients. The Board of Directors will ensure that relations between the new majority shareholder and the minority shareholder, the Congolese state, are marked by open collaboration," said Mr. Georges Buse, Chairman of the Board of Directors of PHC, after the closing of the Extraordinary General Meeting.
“We are excited to partner with the Congolese state in the transformation of PHC by Congolese leadership teams with a focus on Shared Prosperity with local communities,” said Mr. Wale Adeosun, Founder and CEO of Kuramo Capital.