In Tunisia, the EBRD will provide a loan of 10 million dinars ($ 3.7 million) for new machinery and to increase production capacity. Land’Or will also optimize the processes of its Tunisian factory by improving its industrial standards, by investing in productivity, quality and safety.

Land’Or’s subsidiary in Morocco, Land’Or Maroc Industries (LMI), will receive a loan of 82.2 million dirhams ($ 9.2 million) to purchase and install equipment in its new cheese factory , which will be built in Kénitra, north of Rabat.

This facility is expected to be operational by the end of 2021 and will have a capacity of 2,700 tonnes of triangle processed cheese per year. It is also designed to manufacture new products and packaging with the aim of increasing export potential.

LMI will also benefit from an EU grant under the Bank’s Value Chain and Competitiveness program, which aims to improve value chains and make businesses more competitive in the southern and eastern Mediterranean region.

Land’Or has been part of the EBRD’s Blue Ribbon program since February 2020. The program, aimed at small and medium-sized enterprises with high potential, helps the company through technical assistance to adopt international financial reports as well as to increase its export potential and operational efficiency.

Land’Or, a Tunisian public limited company, was created in 1994 by Dr Hatem Denguezli and Dr Hichem Ayed and was listed on the Tunis Stock Exchange in 2013. Land’Or Maroc Industries is the recently created subsidiary of the company in Morocco .

The EBRD said it places a strong emphasis on financing private sector companies in Morocco and Tunisia. The EBRD started investing in the two countries in 2012. To date, the EBRD has invested nearly 2.5 billion euros ($ 3 billion) in 66 projects in Morocco. In Tunisia, the bank has invested 950 million euros ($ 1.1 billion) in 47 projects.