Pangea Africa Limited and Black Star Africa Limited have jointly acquired a majority stake in Ghanaian fresh food producer Eden Tree Limited, paving the way for changes in the company’s leadership and plans to expand its operations across West Africa.

The transaction provides an exit for international impact investment firm Investisseurs & Partenaires (I&P), which has held shares in Eden Tree since 2015. The financial terms of the deal and the individual stakes acquired by Pangea Africa and Black Star Africa were not disclosed.

Eden Tree founder Catherine Krobo Edusei will step away from the company’s day-to-day leadership after 29 years. She will remain with the business as a director and assume the position of Founder Emeritus.

Grant Webber, a representative of Black Star Africa, will take over as Chief Executive Officer, while Pangea Africa Director Tracy Boswell Scicchitano will join Eden Tree’s Board of Directors.

The new investors say the leadership changes form part of a broader plan to increase production, strengthen the company’s supply chain and position Eden Tree as a major supplier of fresh and processed food in West Africa.

From a single room to a national food brand

Founded by Catherine Krobo Edusei in 1997, Eden Tree began as a small packaging operation in a single room. It has since developed into one of Ghana’s recognised suppliers of packaged fruits, vegetables, herbs and convenience foods.

The company sources produce from a network of farmers before washing, processing, packaging and distributing it to retail outlets, corporate organisations and institutional clients. It also operates a processing facility in Tema.

Mrs. Krobo Edusei said the change in ownership marked the beginning of a new phase for a business she had spent nearly three decades building.

“Building Eden Tree over nearly three decades has been the privilege of my life,” she said.

“From our humble beginnings, we proved that Ghanaian agribusiness can meet strict international standards of safety, quality and consistency. I am proud to pass the baton of stewardship to Pangea and Black Star Africa.”

She said the appointment of Tracy Boswell Scicchitano to the board would help maintain the company’s tradition of women’s leadership while introducing new strategic direction.

“Having Tracy join the board ensures that the spirit of female leadership and strategic vision that has defined Eden Tree for 29 years will continue to drive this company forward,” she added.

Mrs Scicchitano described Eden Tree as a strong Ghanaian agribusiness with the potential to expand beyond its current market.

She said the company’s growth would require active investment, improved governance and close engagement with farmers, banks and other businesses within the food supply chain.

“Catherine’s resilience, vision and operational grit since 1997 have built a foundational asset that is ready for regional scale,” she said.

“At Pangea, we believe that empowering local food systems requires active, hands-on equity stewardship. We are incredibly proud to continue Eden Tree’s history of strong women’s leadership at the governance level.”

New owners target food losses and supply-chain gaps

Pangea Africa and Black Star Africa say their immediate priority is to improve Eden Tree’s operations and reduce the amount of fresh produce lost between farms and consumers.

The companies plan to install solar-powered cooling facilities close to farming communities, expand the use of climate-smart drip irrigation and organise more farmers into outgrower cooperatives.

They believe the interventions will allow farmers to preserve fruits and vegetables for longer, stabilise supply and reduce the cost of moving fresh produce to consumers.

John Scicchitano, a Strategic Advisor at Pangea Africa, said weaknesses in storage, transportation and cold-chain infrastructure were contributing to the loss of large quantities of fresh produce after harvest.

He said these losses reduce farmers’ incomes, limit the availability of nutritious food and increase prices for consumers.

“In West Africa, up to 50 per cent of fresh fruits and vegetables spoil after harvest because of fragmented supply chains and cold-chain failures, driving up the cost of nutritious food,” he said.

“By installing solar-powered cooling units near farms, expanding climate-smart drip irrigation and organising outgrower cooperatives, we will preserve nutrients from field to fork, directly driving down the cost of a healthy diet in Ghana.”

The company did not provide a timeline or investment figure for the planned expansion.

Incoming Chief Executive Officer Grant Webber said the initial phase would concentrate on improving production systems, reducing inefficiencies and building a more integrated supply chain.

“Our immediate focus is operational optimisation,” he said. “By combining Black Star’s turnaround execution with Pangea’s strategic capital, we are building an integrated West African fresh food champion.”

I&P exits after decade-long investment

The transaction also ends I&P’s investment in Eden Tree after more than a decade.

Unlike a primary investment, where new capital is injected directly into a company in exchange for newly issued shares, the Eden Tree deal involves the transfer of existing shares from I&P to new investors.

The parties describe it as an important secondary-market transaction for Ghana because it demonstrates that investors in locally owned businesses can transfer their holdings to other investors after supporting a company’s growth.

They argue that the deal could help improve confidence in Ghana’s investment environment at a time when currency depreciation and wider global economic pressures have made exits from African businesses more difficult.

Francis Owusu of I&P said the investment firm supported Eden Tree to expand its processing capacity and strengthen its internal systems during its period as a shareholder.

“The secondary exit of the I&P Afrique Entrepreneurs Fund from Eden Tree represents a healthy, mature investment lifecycle in Ghana,” he said.

“We are proud of our decade-long partnership with Catherine Krobo Edusei, during which the company expanded its processing facilities and professionalised its operations.”

Mr Owusu expressed confidence that Pangea Africa and Black Star Africa had the capital and operational experience required to lead the next stage of the company’s development.

Pangea Africa is an investment and advisory company focused on agribusiness, food systems, climate-related investments and job creation in West Africa.

Black Star Africa is a private operational holding company specialising in the restructuring, supply-chain improvement and commercial expansion of consumer-goods and agro-processing businesses in sub-Saharan Africa.