

A sub-Saharan Africa-focused private family capital firm, One Thousand & One Voices, has made its first investment since launching Africa Fund I in 2014, into a South African fruit and nuts producer.
The size of the investment into RedSun Dried Fruit & Nuts, a privately-owned processor and distributor, was not disclosed.
One Thousand & One Voices is an innovative private equity firm with a “three dimensional capital model” aiming to bring its high net worth family investor base closer to their investments by providing “relational capital”, “intellectual capital” and “patient financial capital” to portfolio companies, according to a press release.
These “leading families [can] offer investee companies access to their business relationships in their respective industries and geographies, as well as their business insights and expertise,” reads the release.
While it is unclear how much the fund has raised so far, it plans to deploy $300 million into sub-Saharan Africa across the consumer, logistics, agribusiness, financial services, healthcare, education and telecommunications sectors, according to a press release. It is operating an open-ended model, according to a spokesperson.
Today’s capital investment will help RedSun to expand its reach and market share globally, where consumption of raisins rose 17 percent between 2008 and 2013. RedSun expects to double its workforce over the next year, according to the release.
The company is one of the fourth largest raisin processors in South Africa, producing up to 7,225 tons annually, of which over 95 percent are sold to the export markets in Europe, North America, South America and Asia.
One Thousand & One Voices was launched at the World Economic Forum on Africa in Cape Town in May 2013.