2024 In Brief

by Charlie Tyron, Maris CEO

2024 has been a year of two very different halves. It started with a number of setbacks: the sale of ALP fell through, triggered by the collapse of a large tenant, Twiga Foods. Some of the heaviest rains Kenya has seen in a generation led to production challenges at Agris, and the tea price collapsed. Frustratingly, the new owners of Equator Energy have not achieved pre-sale compounded growth rates of 50-75% per annum.

In the second half of the year, the gold price reached record levels, and trading across the wider business improved marginally. Mopani Gold delivered a supercharged performance, which helped the group claw back lost ground and ultimately finish the year at, or close to, budget.

At the start of the year, Ian Paterson, our inspirational MD at Equatoria Teak Company (ETC), suffered a stroke and was evacuated to hospital in Nairobi. His recovery has been phenomenal, and it is great to see Ian in such good health, back at ETC.

Renewables

Our position at the forefront of the energy transition in Africa has been further reinforced this year. While growth at Equator Energy, our C&I solar company, stalled due to changes in ownership and management, we have continued to cement our footprint in the electric mobility and renewable energy sectors.

Our EV leasing company, Equator Mobility, continues to grow. We recently signed a tripartite MoU in Chongqing with Sumitomo Group, the Japanese conglomerate, and DFSK, China’s largest manufacturer of commercial electric vehicles, to collaborate on electric mobility solutions across East Africa. While still at an early stage, we believe a committed partnership with both entities will help supply, commercialise and expand suitable products in the East African market.

In other news, Suma Hydro, our 4 MW grid-tied hydro plant in Tanzania, secured approximately $5 million USD of commercial debt from BII in Q2 2024 to fund remaining construction costs and refinance senior debt from an existing lender. Plant commissioning is expected by the end of H1 2025.

Agriculture, Food and Forestry

Agris started the year closing a long-awaited equity raise from AgDevCo for a significant minority position. This allowed the company to invest heavily in developing its two core farms and support the expansion of our avocado project.

Evergreen Avocados as developed well during the year, and we hope to complete close to 430 hectares of avocado orchards in H1 2025. This is shaping up to be one of the largest and most significant avocado developments globally in the past few years. First fruit is expected in April. Closing one farm (Athi) and relocating production to our headquarters at Ndabibi farm during an El Niño year proved painful. Evergreen Herbs was beset by production challenges, which it is now getting on top of, and we look likely to return to profitability in Q4.

Services

META had a difficult year, mirroring the macroeconomic picture in much of sub-Saharan Africa. Trading conditions have improved a little and look more promising heading into the new year. We are poised to secure a large agency deal from a global lubricants supplier that should transform META’s business in 2025.

Mining

Mopani has had a record-breaking year, with production set to surpass record levels, driven by improvements in Zimbabwe and the sharp rise in the gold price. Venice and Commoner mines have both performed well and look set to build on ever-firmer foundations in 2025.Karebe has gone from strength to strength, though some political challenges remain. The new government in Kenya is not sympathetic to investors and appears motivated to extract maximum value through excessive taxation from the private sector, a fact that our UK shareholders may be familiar with.

Property

ALP has had a turbulent year starting with the collapse of a much-anticipated transaction for reasons beyond our control. We have since taken a much closer interest in ALP and the business has restructured its finances and appointed a new executive team. The business is now on a firmer footing and pursuing a strategy that looks viable and likely to create liquidity for shareholders in the short to medium term.

Performance from our Mozambique portfolio has been poor. The country has remained in an economic malaise after the shocking terrorist attacks of 2 years ago. There have been ever-louder whispers that oil and gas companies will return in H1 2025 but with protests across the country following a widely disputed election in November, it remains to be seen whether there will be more delays.

Acacia Village, a stalwart in the portfolio has been performing very well in South Sudan and continues to deliver good cash returns year after year.

As we strive for a better year in 2025, I would like to wish you a merry Christmas and happy new year from everyone at Maris.

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