British International Investment

Miro Forestry Developments Limited

West AfricaFood & Agriculture

Miro Forestry is a sustainable forestry company with plantations in rural Sierra Leone and Ghana, producing plywood and other value-added wood products.

This investment was made when British International Investment was named CDC Group.

Our investment

Description of the investment.

We've invested in the company since 2015, initially providing capital to help the company grow its plantations. Since then, we have made several follow-on investments to further support the company in expanding its plantations and wood processing operations in Ghana and Sierra Leone.

Impact information

Applies to investments made from 2019 onwards. The tabs in this section define what we expect to achieve through the investment, assessing the potential impact of the investment against six dimensions of impact. You can find more details on our methodology of assessing impact here.

What?

Impact
  • Support economic opportunities (SDG 8.5) and contribute to sustainable economic growth (SDG 8.1, 8.2 and 8.4).
  • Climate change mitigation (SDG 13.A) and protection of natural capital (SDG 15.1 and 15.2).

How?

How?
  • Support employment creation on plantations and in wood processing facilities.
  • Support environmental sustainability through: (1) carbon sequestration through tree planting on degraded land; (2) protecting natural forests by providing an alternative, more sustainable source of local timber; (3) protecting indigenous forests in and around Miro's landholding.

Who?

Stakeholder Geography Characteristics
Employees

Sierra Leone and Ghana

Majority of the workforce is low/unskilled (~90 per cent), mostly rural, ~18 per cent female. There are limited formal employment opportunities exist in the areas where Miro operates.

Planet

Climate benefits globally, and natural forests locally.

From 2001 to 2021, Sierra Leone lost 1.82 million hectares of tree cover, equivalent to a 32 per cent decrease in tree cover since 2000, and 867 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent. In the same period, Ghana lost 1.41 million hectares of tree cover, equivalent to a 20 per cent decrease in tree cover since 2000, and 740 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent.

How much?

Scale Depth/Duration

Employees: Miro anticipates to employ over 5,000 people by 2030.

  • Employees (duration): The impact will be sustained long-term (more than 10 years).
  • Employees (depth): Miro pays its low-skilled staff approximately over 50 per cent more than national minimum wages.
  • Planet (duration): The impact will be sustained long-term (more than 10 years)
  • Planet (depth): Miro is one of the largest plantation forestry players in West Africa with around 20,000 hectares planted today and 30,000 hectares by 2030. At least 10 per cent will be kept under conservation (an FSC requirement). The company estimates that its forests will cumulatively sequester approximately 4 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent over the course of the business plan.

Contribution/additionality

Contribution/additionality
  • Financial additionality: Capital is not offered in sufficient quantity.
  • Value additionality: We have provided significant environmental and social support since 2015, including in obtaining FSC certification. Our technical assistance programme, BII Plus, has also provided technical assistance for a plywood market study to inform the business plan in 2019.
  • Mobilisation: We have helped to mobilise capital from a mix of DFIs and private investors.

Risk

Execution Risk
  • the realisation of the impact outlined depends on the successful execution of the business plan. Sustainable plantation forestry is still a nascent sector in Africa (especially outside South Africa) which brings inherent risks. This is demonstrated by the lack of success stories at scale within the sector.

Environmental and social information

  • Environmental and social summary

    A high-level description of the environmental and social aspects of the investment. This may include a summary of key environmental and social risks identified during environmental and social due diligence (ESDD); key elements of an environmental and social action plan (ESAP); or ways in which we plan to support the investee improve environmental and social standards, such as through their environmental and social management system (ESMS); as well as any other priority areas agreed with the investee.

  • Environmental and social risk

    A risk category rating, which indicates the level of environmental and social risk associated with an investment. For an explanation of the categorisations used, see here. We consistently provide an environmental and social risk category for all investments screened from 2023 onwards.

Environmental and social summary

We continue working with the company to further implement their ESMS, with a focus on strengthening occupational health and safety and stakeholder engagement practices via regular engagement with the environmental and social manager and participation in the ESG committee.

Reporting and Complaints Mechanism

The Reporting and Complaints Mechanism allows anyone outside BII to report alleged breaches of the business integrity or environmental and social provisions of BII’s Policy on Responsible Investing. This includes breaches made by BII, a BII investee, or a portfolio company of a fund in which BII has invested. The Reporting and Complaints Mechanism Rules are available here. Reports and complaints can be submitted by email to [email protected] or by mail. See more details on our Reporting and Complaints Mechanism here.

For any other general enquiries contact us at [email protected]

  • Key facts

    Last updated

    When the last quarterly update of the website database occurred.

    :
    June 2024
    Project number

    An identifier number shared by investments in the same project.

    :
    D254
    Status

    The current status of the investment (green flag for active and red flag for exited).

    :
    Exited
    Region

    The geographical region where the country is located. We currently invest in Africa, South Asia, South East Asia and the Caribbean. In 2023, BII’s investment mandate was extended allowing it to invest in regional funds linked to Ukraine, with the majority of activity expected to begin post-war. Investments outside these regions were made prior to 2012 under previous investment mandates.

    :
    West Africa
    Country

    The countries where the investment delivers impact. Where impact is delivered in multiple countries, this is indicated.

    :
    Ghana, Sierra Leone
    Sector

    We prioritise those sectors that facilitate development and need our capital the most. Our priority sectors contribute towards many of the Sustainable Development Goals. They range from investing in the power infrastructure that will provide people with better access to electricity, to investing in financial institutions that direct capital to the individuals and businesses that need it the most.

    :
    Food & Agriculture

    We provide capital in the following ways: directly – through direct equity, direct debt, guarantees and other non-intermediated financial instruments; and indirectly – principally through investment funds.

    For direct investments and fund investments, this is the date BII committed capital to the investments. This is typically the date on which legal agreements are signed by all parties.

    For the portfolio companies of our fund investments, this is the date (either the month or the quarter) on which the fund committed capital to the portfolio company.

    For direct equity investments, this is the date at which British International Investment exited the investment.

    For debt investments, this is the date at which the final debt repayment was made.

    For funds, this is the date at which the fund was terminated.

    For underlying fund investments, this is the date at which the fund manager exited the investment.

    The total amount committed, per financial instrument, per investment, on the date BII becomes subject to a binding legal obligation to provide funding or assume a contingent liability. This information is provided in US dollars.

    For direct investments, this is the amount that BII has committed to the business or project. For fund investments, this is the amount BII has committed to the fund.

    The currency in which the investment was made.

    Investment type :
    Debt
    Start date :
    November 2019
    End date :
    September 2022
    Amount :
    $1.5m
    Currency of investment :
    USD
    Domicile

    The company or investment fund’s place of incorporation.

    :
    United Kingdom

Related investments made by BII into this company:

Investment name Commitment Region Sector Start date Status
Investment 01 $4.5m, $10.5m West Africa Food & Agriculture March 2015 Active
Investment 02 $1m West AfricaWest Africa Food & Agriculture December 2017 Exited
Investment 03 $2m West AfricaWest AfricaWest Africa Food & Agriculture April 2018 Exited
Investment 04 $1.66m West AfricaWest AfricaWest AfricaWest Africa Food & Agriculture November 2018 Active
Investment 06 $1.05m West AfricaWest AfricaWest AfricaWest AfricaWest Africa Food & Agriculture February 2020 Exited
Investment 07 $9.3m West AfricaWest AfricaWest AfricaWest AfricaWest AfricaWest Africa Food & Agriculture May 2020 Active
Investment 08 $6m West AfricaWest AfricaWest AfricaWest AfricaWest AfricaWest AfricaWest Africa Food & Agriculture October 2022 Active
Investment 09 $-500k West AfricaWest AfricaWest AfricaWest AfricaWest AfricaWest AfricaWest AfricaWest Africa Food & Agriculture November 2023 Active

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