BookTitleToyota Tsusho 70-Year History

Summary

Toyota Tsusho 70-Year History

8 Establishment of a Social VentureDevelopment FundIn January 2014, Toyota Tsusho established ToyotaTsusho CSV Africa Pte. Ltd. in Mauritius, the first socialventure development fund set up by a Japanese companyin Africa. As the international community started shiftingfrom simple support for Africa to the promotion of selfreliance,focus began moving from investment efficiencyand income to solutions for social issues, such as highunemployment rates and low levels of income. The fundset up by Toyota Tsusho aimed to identify and developbusinesses in Africa that could directly resolve socialissues by creating jobs for local residents, boostingincomes, improving the living and welfare environment,and increasing reserves of foreign currency. Followingestablishment of the fund, Toyota Tsusho began selectingand underwriting investment projects that met the fund’sobjectives.One such project was a large-scale agriculture businessin Zambia, selected to receive financing to the tuneof US$3 million in June 2015. Another recipient wasan Ethiopian leather product fabrication business thatreceived US$300,000 in funding. In November 2016,the fund also provided US$3 million in funding to abusiness in the medical field in Kenya engaged in usinginformation and communications technologies (ICT) formedical applications.9 Collaboration with Bollore S.A.In March 2016, Toyota Tsusho signed a letter ofintent (LOI) regarding comprehensive collaborationswith French company Bollore S.A. to seek out businessopportunities in Africa. Bollore had the largesttransportation and logistics network in Africa and wasinvolved in a wide range of businesses, including incommunications and media. Bollore was not only theNo. 1 logistics provider in Africa, having developeda logistics network spanning 46 countries on thecontinent, it also operated multiple international seaports and railway services centered around its majorhub in West Africa. With Bollore’s business wing inEurope involved in many different fields from media,advertising, and communications to battery manufacturefor electric vehicles (EVs), Toyota Tsusho believed thata collaboration with Bollore would create synergiesToyota Tsusho’s business operations in Africa. Basedon the LOI, Toyota Tsusho and Bollore conducted jointcommercialization surveys for various businesses, suchas a vehicle transportation company in Kenya.Section 7 Events in the South America and Middle East Regions1 Business Development in South AmericaEstablishment of Toyota Tsusho ColombiaColombia has seen steady economic growth sincethe 2000s. Toyota Tsusho established an office in thecountry’s capital, Bogota, in 1990. Toyota Tsushoexported the products of Japanese tire and wheelmanufacturers and automobile parts into Colombia andimported Colombian coffee to Japan. Seeing that theColombian market was becoming more promising?thecountry was labeled a“new BRIC”?in July 2008 ToyotaTsusho established its Colombian subsidiary, C.I. ToyotaTsusho de Colombia S.A. The aim of the subsidiaryhas been to expand business in metals, machinery andelectronics, automobiles, energy and chemicals, andfood.Supporting TMC in BrazilBrazil is the world’s most resource-rich country anda producer of high-quality iron ore. It also supplies theworld with coffee, oranges, sugar, soybeans, and beef.NovaAgriS.C.Toyota Tsusho do Brasil Ltda.History175