Safa Afrique raised capital for diamond mining in West Africa

CONAKRY (Capital Markets in Africa) – Citigate International Ltd has announced the successful closing of Safa Afrique with $10 million raised from GCC investors. These funds will be deployed for Safa Afrique’s diamond mining portfolio which primarily consists of its flagship project in Sierra Leone as well as two joint venture projects in Guinea and Liberia with Stellar Diamonds plc, a London listed (AIM: STEL) company.

Work on the project will begin immediately with activities running simultaneously at all sites. Stellar Diamonds plc, an experienced West African diamond developer, will be operating both mines for the first phase while Citigate Commodities Trading DMCC has been appointed as the official off-taker of all diamonds produced. The redemption date for all investors will be December 2019.

Mr. Tohib Iyiola, CEO of Citigate International, said, “We are proud to achieve this milestone. Our vision is to bridge the gap between the GCC and African region by offering GCC investors opportunities to capitalise on the natural resources in West Africa and Safa Afrique is the first step towards our success. Being a secure, Shari’ah compliant fund Safa Afrique attracted tremendous interest from GCC based investors.

Headquartered in the UK with operations in Europe, Asia, Middle East and Africa, Citigate Commodities Trading Ltd is trade regulated by Dubai Diamond Exchange and deals in diverse commodities across the globe. It also specialises in the supply of raw commodities, gold, and diamonds in particular, to manufacturing and retail groups.

Emphasising on the quality of material supplied by Citigate Mr. Iyiola said, “We make sure that our precious metals and Gems follow all necessary government required protocols i.e. DMCC responsible sourcing and Kimberley process certification scheme. We are conscious of our corporate social responsibility and ensure that the produce we bring to trade is conflict free.”