DEG finances investments of German horticultural company in Kenya

• Selecta Kenya provided with a loan of EUR 3m
• Promotion of employment in agriculture
• Health counselling as an accompanying measure

The German horticulture company Selecta Klemm is expanding in Kenya. DEG – Deutsche Investitions- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft mbH, provides the Stuttgart-based family business with a long-term loan of EUR 3 million for the modernisation of its greenhouses.

Selecta Klemm exports bedding and balcony plants, perennials, grasses and cut flowers to 3,500 international wholesale dealers and nurseries. The group has a total staff of 1,700 and operates at seven locations in Europe, Africa, Latin America and Asia. Selecta Kenya alone employs around 1,000 people.

"The commitment for the countries of sub-Saharan Africa is one of the strategic focuses of DEG, just as accompanying German SMEs in future markets. With our financing we moreover support the development of an emerging agricultural sector in Kenya," said Eric Kaleja, Director of the DEG Representative Office in Nairobi, on the occasion of the visit of the German Ambassador to Kenya, Andreas Peschke, to Selecta.

"DEG's involvement in companies in Kenya, especially in SMEs, is very important. Creating and securing jobs is one of the major economic policy challenges in this country. With its investments in soundly-managed SMEs, DEG contributes significantly to this. DEG's long-term finance for Selecta Kenya is another positive example," emphasised Ambassador Andreas Peschke.

East Africa's good climatic conditions especially favour the cultivation of parent plants for the production of cuttings. At the same time, floriculture is very important for poverty reduction in the region. Since 1999, Selecta Klemm has been cultivating a greenhouse area of around 18 hectares in Kenya. The company gives high priority to an environmental and social management. It pays wages far above the national average and furthermore offers a number of free benefits, such as transport to work, medical treatment and prevention counselling.

In addition to the investment financing, DEG has provided Selecta Kenya with funds for accompanying measures. One of these measures is the initiative "HERhealth" that provides women with access to health and prevention counselling in companies. Furthermore a feasibility study is to be carried out to facilitate the changeover of the company's energy supply to solar energy.

With the long-term finance made available to Selecta Kenya, DEG continues its targeted involvement in Africa. Only recently it provided financing to develop the largest wind park in sub-Saharan Africa at Lake Turkana in Kenya.