Pragma Facilitates Investment In Ethiopian Textile

Pragma has announced a greenfield investment in Dante Manufacturing PLC (“Dante”), a socks manufacturing company based in the city of Bahir Dar, Ethiopia. Pragma holds minority equity in the business along with other investors, including the chairman of Kazana Group, Addis Alemayehou. Pragma has also played an important role in facilitating the investment, beginning from a comprehensive review of the proposed business plan, to conducting financial and commercial due diligence, as well as building a robust financial model, all to ensure the viability of the business. Dante will be a portfolio company under the on-going investment management role that Pragma upholds by sitting on the advisory board and providing support in strategy, management, operations, and marketing.

Nurelegn, who has experience in the textile industry and who is also the CEO of Dante, is working with Pragma to grow the business.

Socks being the first stage of the textile and garment based production, Dante intends to produce more textile products in the future. The factory has commenced the production of high-quality socks, has created employment for more than 40 individuals and was established to accommodate the growing demand for textile products in Ethiopia where a majority of socks is imported from China and Turkey, with prices usually known to be premium while quality is often compromised. Dante’s primary mission is to fill the gap by supplying great quality and affordable socks (to the tune of over 2 million socks per annum), with long-term prospects of diversifying into the production of other textile products, including scarce raw materials.

Based in Addis Ababa and operating with a regional focus, Pragma Investment Advisory is a business, investment, and development advisory firm with a primary emphasis on developing strategic entry and growth planning for the private sector in East Africa. The firm is run by principal advisors who have established strategic alliances with highly qualified consultants whose professional backgrounds range from working for some of the big 6 financial accounting firms to Emerging Market-focused private equity companies. Besides the provision of advisory services, Pragma invests in early-stage companies who demonstrate viability and scalability with a disruptive value proposition for the East African market.