Integrated property and logistics investment company, Africa Logistics Properties (ALP), has signed a ten-year lease agreement with Africa’s revolutionary retail company, Twiga Foods Limited.

The warehousing deal will see Twiga Foods occupy an estimated 139,000 square feet at ALP’s modern warehouse facility located at Tatu City’s Industrial Park in Ruiru. Twiga Foods operates a mobile-based, cashless platform to aggregate urban retail demand, offering thousands of small and medium-sized vendors convenient one-stop shop ordering.

“This partnership with ALP is a major milestone for us. It allows us to scale up in terms of products, producers, retailers and cities served through our platform, as we continue executing our mission of feeding and supplying Africa’s growing urban population with traceable, quality and affordable products. Further, it ensures that our quality, health and safety standards remain aligned with international guidelines and best practice,” said Peter Njonjo, CEO of Twiga Foods.

In May 2019, ALP completed phase two of Kenya’s first international standard grade-A logistics warehouse facility targeting the rental market. Currently, the estimated 505,000 square feet facility is 75% occupied by various local, regional and international companies such as Freight Forwarders Solutions (FFS), Copia Global, Kensta Group and others.

ALP’s Chief Executive Officer Mr. Richard Hough said the new facility will ease the storage and distribution for Twiga Foods products similarly to that currently being achieved by the current tenants operating within the ALP facilities.  

Since launch of Twiga Foods in 2014, Twiga Foods has been building Kenya’s only end-to-end distribution for fresh and processed food, sourcing from more than 15,000 producers and delivering to over 5,000 retailers a day. Twiga’s digital platform and logistics network link retailers with farmers and food manufacturers, presenting a convenient and reliable alternative to the current inefficient and expensive farm/factory-to-market processes.

Additional Investments

ALP has commenced phase one construction of its second project located along the Nairobi – Nakuru highway at Tilisi Logistics Park; with pre-leasing discussions ongoing. The ALP West project will comprise of seven phases.

“We have received numerous requests from potential tenants to accommodate their growing businesses.  ALP’s phase one of this project will accommodate growing small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs) that require storage spaces as low as approx. 5,300square feet,” Mr. Hough said.

ALP is also currently in discussion with various local, regional and international companies, who own land in various parts of the Eastern African region to either develop or upgrade their warehouses and factories on their behalf, through sale and leaseback options or through a pre-determined lease agreement. According to Hough, these specialized inquiries are a result of companies understanding the benefits and value of operating in modern warehouse facilities as developed by ALP and wishing to minimize their own capital expenditure. “ALP aims to continue modernizing and improving the quality of the warehouse landscape in Kenya and the rest of the Eastern African Region to ensure companies process, manufacture, or store their products and operate efficiently,” Mr. Hough said.