International investment fund Hermes-Sojitz is investing EUR 20 million (USD 22.7 million) in an African fish processor in order to help fund the building of a new fishing vessel.
The fund is investing in Mauritania Pelagic, a company with its own fishing fleet and processing facilities in Mauritania, which accounts for 30 percent of all fish production and processing in the country.
Hermes-Sojitz will buy 23 percent of Mauritania Pelagic shares, and the investment will allow the company to build a new fishing trawler equipped with 500 tons in refrigerated seawater tanks. The builder has not yet been decided, but the company is negotiating with shipyards in Germany, Denmark and Norway. The purpose, according to a statement from Hermes-Sojitz, will be to deliver chilled fresh product directly to an onshore fish processing plant.
Mauritania Pelagic is also expected to use the funding to purchase high-tech equipment for the plant. According to Hermes-Sojitz, the equipment is expected to facilitate “unique surimi production.” The company will acquire the equipment from Russian facility Karelian Industrial Complex.
Hermes-Sojitz said in a statement that the firm is focusing on the potential market for seafood in Africa, noting four other high-tech fish processing plants in the region, all producing a total of 450,000 metric tons of products per year.
