To this end, the general manager of Deja Vu, Milton Vellios, signed a financing agreement in Maputo on Tuesday with the IFC Director for Mozambique and Angola, Tunde Onitiri.
Of the amount the IFC is to disburse, 280,000 dollars is an injection of risk capital, while the remaining 80,000 dollars will pay for consultancy services in the areas of technical assistance, accounting systems and procedures, market studies, and production assistance.
According to Vellios, the agreement with the IFC should allow this small company to more than triple its production - from the current 13 tonnes a year to 44 tonnes a year. The work force will increase slightly, from 22 to 25.
"Right now, we are producing chocolate for sale in the markets of Maputo, Beira and Nampula", said Vellios. "In the light of this financing, our perspective is to supply the entire country, and later we can think about exporting." He thought the chocolate market in Maputo was "promising", but a great deal still needed to be done to take advantage of this potential. Some 400 tonnes of chocolate a year are needed to meet the full Mozambican demand.
Onitiri said that the funding for Deja Vu is part of a pilot programme to support Mozambican small and medium companies, which is also supported by the Swiss and Finnish governments.
Deja Vu is a family company that was set up in 2002.
SOURCE: AIM
