Sectors

We are focusing on the most promising sectors for the East African Economy
Over 70 percent of Mango Fund’s assets are allocated across three sectors: manufacturing, agro-processing, and technical farming. According to the Network View of Economic Development by Cesar A. Hidalgo and Ricardo Hausmann, countries tend develop new products and services based on products and inputs already available in the local market. Mango Fund’s role is to help businesses create more value in East Africa by providing assistance in implementing new production technologies, developing new products, driving productivity, and eventually expanding to new markets. Below you can find more information on our past investment across all three Mango Fund’s key focus sectors. 

Manufacturing
Due to the low cost of labor and the young and relatively well-educated workforce, East Africa has good prospects to develop a strong manufacturing sector for regional, and eventually international production. The development of a manufacturing sector capable of facing global competition requires investments in state-of-art technology able to drive in-country growth and employment. Mango Fund backs outstanding entrepreneurs who spot such opportunities and find promising technological solutions to exploit them.  Mango Fund’s prior investments in manufacturing include CNC cutting systems, embroidery machines, recycling machines, and working capital.

Agro-processing
Adding value to agricultural commodities is a promising, straight forward way of keeping more value for goods within agriculture-based economies, such as those found in East Africa. The best way to deal with abundance of crops during high-seasons and their shortage during low seasons is to develop ways of processing them into more advanced consumer products with a longer lifespan. More and more entrepreneurs in East Africa spot such opportunities and enter these import-dominated markets. 

One major challenge is to ensure strong quality control for locally produced food products. In order to navigate global competition successfully, local products have to meet stringent international standards. This is difficult without dedicated technical equipment. Mango Fund assists food-processing entrepreneurs with loans and consulting services that help them to introduce new products, production technology, and increase productivity. Mango Fund’s prior investments in agro-processing include grinding mills, cleaning and sorting machines, hullers, packaging machines, and working capital. 

Technical farming
Many farmers in emerging economies struggle on the edge of survival due to small-scale production and lack of adequate machinery and equipment. Mango Fund helps the industrialization of farmers in East Africa by providing them with loans to introduce new farming technology to better leverage their limited land. We also deliver consulting services in order to drive productivity within the sector. Mango Fund’s prior investments in technical farming include procurement of tractors, trucks, and construction of irrigation systems.

Medical Services
The state of healthcare in East Africa is abysmal. Local hospitals, who are supposed to provide care free of charge, in fact charge large fees for treatment. Not only do they charge fees, but most hospitals lack the necessary diagnostic equipment to be able to make accurate and effective treatments. To solve this problem many local doctors have begun to local their own private health clinics. These clinics provide better diagnostic and treatment services than the “free” government hospitals and often are not dramatically more expensive. Mango Fund provides financing to businesses in the sector for the purchase of needed medical equipment. Through improved medical services these businesses provide massive social and economic benefit for these developing economies is massive. Mango Fund’s prior investments in medical services include X-ray and ultrasound machines.