RLI INVESTMENT SNAPSHOT

BROTHERS FLOUR AND BISCUIT FACTORY PLC

Agriculture development is key to Ethiopia’s endeavors to become

self-sufficient, and Brothers Flour and Biscuit Factory represents a strong
actor in Adama’s agro-processing ecosystem. Food insecurity plagues the
country despite the abundance of fertile land, which has led the government
Reason for Selection:
to choose agriculture as a priority sector for international investment.
Supporting businesses operating in this sector could help improve access to
food for refugee and host communities, as well as engage these populations
through supply chain development, sourcing and employment.

Location: Adama, Oromia, Ethiopia

RLI Business Category: 1 R3: Refugee Supporting / R4: Refugee-Supporting, Host-weighted

Brothers Flour and Biscuit Factory was founded in 2000 by Mohammed Seid
and his brother Ahmed Beshir. The company produces wheat flours and
eight varieties of biscuits for the local market.
Their facility is located on the edge of Adama city limits and has a production
Company Background:
capacity of 30 to 40 tons of wheat flour and 25 to 30 tons of biscuits per day.
The company produces some of the most popular brands of biscuits in
Ethiopia, such as Fegegta Hard Cracker and Glory Cream, which enjoy a
considerable market share.

Industry/Sector: Agro-processing

Products and Services: Wheat flour; Biscuits

Mohammed Seid, Owner and General Manager

Ahmed Beshir, Management Support
Management Team:
Each of the five operational departments has a manager who is overseen by
a deputy manager.

1,572 Total employees, of which 1,000 are permanent and 572 are
Employees:
temporary employees; predominately female.

1
This is the category RENEW believes the company could occupy after receiving appropriate technical assistance support. The concept of refugee-lens investing (RLI)
is new to Ethiopia, as such, there are very few companies operating in the formal sector of the studied secondary cities that currently meet the RLI criteria.
 In Ethiopia, there is an estimated 45 biscuit and flour manufacturing
companies with a total estimated production capacity of 2.5M quintals of
biscuits a year.2
The domestic production of biscuits in the 2019 fiscal year reached an
estimated 194K tons, whereas the country imported an estimated 1.8K tons
Market Overview and of biscuits.3
Trends: Ethiopia’s annual production of wheat is approximately 5.8M tons. The nation
is also importing 655K quintals of wheat per month to meet additional
demand in the country.4
The government of Ethiopia has devised various projects around irrigation
and cooperative farming to increase the annual production of wheat and to
substitute imports.

The company is interested in an investment, but they are still building out
their investment proposal to provide an accurate assessment of their
Estimated Investment
financial needs. The business plan includes expanding biscuit production
Needs*:
capacity, developing new biscuit varieties and modernizing machinery and
operations.

Target Funding Source(s): Local banks, foreign investors, domestic investors

Brothers Flour and Biscuit Factory already holds a strong market share,
producing some of the better-known biscuit names in the market. They are a
large employer in the city with opportunity to further expand employment
Investment Opportunity: through their growth.
As do most companies in Ethiopia, Brothers relies heavily on imports to
cover goods that they cannot find consistently at the right quality in Ethiopia,
including milk powder, oils, and food-grade plastic packaging.

Brothers’ business model presents numerous opportunities to engage the

host and refugee community around Adama.
First, expansion of operations will naturally increase employment
opportunities. With the appropriate guidance from the RLI network,
RLI Social Impact
recruitment could target refugee populations, as well as the host community.
Opportunity:
As an agro-processing operation, there is also significant opportunity to
engage and source from smallholder farmers in the wheat value chain.
Refugee and refugee populations are frequently engaged in agriculture, so
this is a natural pathway to RLI inclusion.

They are interested in partners who can bring expertise in equipment

procurement, equipment repair and management development support.
As is true everywhere, there is also a significant awareness raising
opportunity around RLI and the benefits of this outlook.
RLI Support Strategy:
Working with the management team to build out a business plan with a
concrete outline of their financial needs could help take the company’s
operations to the next level, increasing employment opportunities and
expanding reach.

2
Addis Fortune News. Local Food Processing Firm Expands with 350m Br. 2020. Link.
3
Ibid.
4
All Africa News. Ethiopia: Flour, Biscuit Plant Breaks Ground in Debre Sina. 2020. Link.
Successful growth that incorporates RLI could serve as an illustrative
example to the community which can support further interest and
engagement in RLI-oriented business plans.