AfricInvest is pleased to announce it has taken a minority stake in Justrite, a leading Nigerian family owned retail department store. The company provides everyday essentials, such as groceries, confectionaries, and clothing to consumers in largely underserved neighborhoods. Founded over 22 years ago by Dr & Mrs. Aderinwale and Mrs. Omoboye, Justrite caters to consumers in the Southwestern Region of Nigeria with 17 stores across Lagos (Ikeja), Ogun (Abeokuta), and Osun State (Osogbo), with a combined shop floor exceeding c.20,000m2 and 57,000 Stock Keeping Units (SKUs).
AfricInvest in partnership with Justrite will contribute to building affordable grocery outlets that source local products, support domestic agriculture value chains, and create new jobs while improving the availability of safe, high-quality foods. The new investor has a proven track record of 30 years across markets and aims to help accelerate Justrite’s growth by putting in place enhanced governance tools and digitalizing the company’s processes and services. Its plans to leverage its multisector investment platform, will create synergies between its other portfolio companies and Justrite to increase their reach and provide access to technical expertise.
This transaction builds on AfricInvest’s decade-long relationship with the Justrite team that began with an investment from the firm’s credit vehicle, AfricInvest Private Credit (APC). It marks the fifth investment of AF IV, AfricInvest’s flagship fund which invests in African mid-cap companies across diverse sectors to accelerate their regional growth, delivering attractive risk-adjusted returns and supporting inclusive and sustainable development.
Dr. Ayo Aderinwale, Co-founder and Chairman of Justrite, said, “As Justrite embarks on a new growth phase, Tosin, Boye, and I are very excited to partner with Africinvest to help both our consolidation in the local market as well as our exploration of other markets outside Nigeria. We look forward to benefiting from their immense experience across Africa to galvanize our expansion. We welcome our new partners!”
Abiola Ojo-Osagie, Senior Partner and MD, AfricInvest Anglophone West Africa commented, “Justrite is a clear market leader with well-defined growth potential and we are very proud to be partnering with such knowledgeable and dynamic sponsors. The management team has demonstrated a strong willingness to sustainably expand their footprint across Nigeria and beyond. AfricInvest will support them to enhance their corporate structure and improve operational performance. We are indeed excited to play a role in Justrite’s growth journey.”
Our mission in AfricInvest is to identify companies like Justrite which possess strong growth potential, and support them in their expansion while upscaling governance standards. Through this partnership, AfricInvest and Justrite will be increasing access in largely underserved neighborhoods to everyday essentials while upholding high sanitary standards, contributing to the improvement of Africans’ daily lives,” added Mohammed Sebti, Partner Africinvest.
AfricInvest is a leading pan-African investment platform active in multiple alternative asset classes including private equity, venture capital, private credit, blended finance, and listed equities. Over the past quarter century, we have raised more than $2bn to finance more than 200 companies at various development stages, delivering value and impact for our investors, portfolio companies, and the communities we serve. The capital investor with total commitments of US$411 million, AF IV aims to invest in mature and profitable African mid-cap companies across diverse sectors to accelerate their regional growth and deliver attractive risk-adjusted returns.
The new collaboration is poised to making Justrite Superstore become the king of retail in Nigeria (through operation optimization, brand visibility, customer growth, et al). The superstore’s promoters are determined to keep growing the business exponentially. Justrite currently employs a diverse pool of workers put at well over a thousand talents and growing.
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