JICA invests $2.5M in Sanergy’s Nairobi Black Soldier Fly project

In Japan, the Japanese International Cooperation Agency made an investment of $2.5 million in Sanergy, Inc., a US company which promotes an innovative circular-economy approach in the developing world, including Nairobi, Kenya. Sanergy collects human waste from sanitary toilets located in slum areas and other organic waste around the city, and transforms the waste into insect feed, organic fertilizer, and biofuel in its factory, using the Black Soldier Fly.

Sanergy, which has pioneered an innovative circular economy business, contributes to solving a number of social problems such as waste processing, public hygiene, farm productivity, and increasing food supplies. Supported with funding from the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (USDFC), Sanergy has built the largest insect feed factory in East Africa, that started up in 2021. JICA has a long history of helping waste management and agricultural development in Kenya and will leverage its experience to assist in the company’s factory operations and business development. The problems of waste management and farming productivity are not limited to Kenya but are also present in many African countries, and Sanergy is preparing to expand its business to other countries starting in East Africa. JICA will leverage its network to solve these social problems not only in Kenya but also in other African countries.
At this funding round, JICA is co-investing with private sector investors such as an impact investing fund managed by AXA IM Alts, a global leader in alternative investments, Novastar Ventures which operates a venture capital (VC) fund manager with more than $200 million assets under management in Africa, Finnfund which is a Finnish development financial institution, and Kepple Africa Ventures which is a Japanese VC directed toward Africa are existing investors of Sanergy. JICA will further cooperate with various investors in both the public and private sectors by assisting enterprises aiming to solve social problems in developing regions using innovative business models.