The African Bamboo Project
A Green Earth Africa Investment opportunity
EVERY GENERATION BLAMES THE ONE BEFORE, AND ALL THEIR FRUSTRATIONS COME BEATING ON YOUR DOOR
- Mike and the mechanics
African Bamboo Investment
- Minimum investment US$5,500.
- Early Returns, generated from Year 4
- Regular Income, paid annually after Year 4
- Forecast returns from 16% up to 21% per annum
- Medium Term Investment, 15 yr life cycle
- International company with several operations, based primarily in Southern Africa
- Environmentally focused company trading in environmental offsets and renewable resources.
- Green credentials for the investor.
- Humanitarian credentials for the investor.
- Fastest growing plant on land
- A unique high-demand asset in a stable-market
- Environmentally sensitive, highest carbon sequestration rates
- SIPP compatibility
Contents
- OVERVIEW
- THE BAMBOO INVESTMENT LIFE CYCLE
- WHY SUSTAINABLE FORESTRY
- WHY SPECIFICALLY BAMBOO
- A MULTI-NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL COMPANY
- INVESTMENT OPTIONS
- RETURN FORECASTS
- ADDITIONAL CLIENT SERVICES
- INVESTMENT SECURITY
- EXIT STRATEGY
- RESERVATION PROCEDURE
- NEXT STEPS
Overview
Bamboo investment combines the environmentally conscious aspect of sustainable forestry investment with the enhanced financial benefit of delivering annual returns within just a few years.
Unlike traditional hardwood forestry, bamboo is the fastest growing land-based plant on the planet and so can be commercially harvested from as early as Year 4.
Being such a fast-growing plant, commercial harvests then occur annually delivering investors annual returns, perfect for regular income.
Bamboo has a higher tensile strength than most steels and so is extremely widely used across Asia in the growing construction industry. Scaffolding is a major application whilst over a billion people already live in houses made of bamboo.
Under such high demand and with multi-industry applications, sales prices ensure investor annual return forecasts from 16% < 21% IRR per annum throughout the 15 yr life cycle depending on the volume invested.
Highly skilled and dedicated management with many years experience in Agriculture, Africa, its conditions, governments and people. Very good communication with local officials, chiefs, communities and local dialect spoken.
The Green Earth Africa will harvest and sell the bamboo, or process in their own processing plant to be turned into high grade bamboo products and sold worldwide
- Green Earth Africa will pay the net proceeds to the investor on an annual basis after year four.
- More bamboo will re-grow from the same clump and roots, generating larger harvests each year without replanting
- After Year 15 the bamboo’s natural life ends, you will receive your final harvest return and your investment will finish. After this the plantation will be replanted to ensure the sustainable life cycle.
- Choose how much you wish to invest (Minimum investment 20 clumps for
$5000.00)
- Your investment funds will purchase bamboo saplings known as “clumps” to be planted on your land
- You will receive an ownership certificate for these clumps, and also a notarised sublease contract with the plantation company
- The investor’s bamboo saplings are then planted, grown and maintained on the investor’s land under the management of Green Earth Africa under a separate management contract
- From Year 4 the bamboo is mature enough to be commercially harvested and generate income
Store of Value: As time passes, trees grow, and their marketable timber volume increases, as does the woods’ value per volume
Un-leveraged market: with no equivalent “mortgage lending” to drive speculation, forestry is more stable and so perfect for balancing volatile real estate or securities portfolios
Low entry level and low risk-to-return ratio: Forestry investments require relatively little capital compared to real estate investments and being in a more stable market offer less volatile returns
Environmentally conscious: sustainable forestry gives a unique opportunity to do something healthy for the planet whilst accruing a healthy capital gain
Green and Humanitarian credentials.
Value little affected by macroeconomics: Irrespective of which government is in power or global currency fluctuations, inflation and interest rates, the long-term factor of forestry and its fundamental applications produce a more constant growth rate
Hedge against volatile real estate or securities portfolios: For the reasons above, forestry’s stability makes it the perfect portfolio hedge against more volatile markets
Potential tax advantages: Depending on project location and structure, advantages such as inheritance or SIPP compatibility for retirement planning
Demand & supply: global consumption of tropical hardwoods has multiplied nearly 25 times in the last 4 decades as population growth rates continues to accelerate. Around 40m acres of tropical forest are being destroyed each year and not being replaced, whilst international political incentivization to protect forests increases the pressure on illegal deforestation, further enhancing timber value.
Bloomberg Wealth Management: Hardwood has quietly and consistently outperformed nearly all other commodities for the past 100 years
“As an asset class, timber – a renewable resource with constant product demand – stands out as a remarkably stable investment”
Bloomberg Wealth Management
 Fast Growth. Bamboo (Denrocalamus Asper) is the fastest growing land plant in the world (only ocean kelp grows faster). A 20m bamboo culm can replace itself within 50 days as opposed to a 20m hardwood tree which can take decades to grow.
Longevity. A single bamboo clump can produce up to 15 kilometres of usable pole over a 13 year period.
Carbon Sequestration. Bamboo sequesters around 4 times more CO2 than average timber and produces 35% more Oxygen.
Strength. Bamboo possesses a tensile strength of 52 pounds per square inch, stronger than most steel. As such it is a major component in the construction industry for scaffolding across Asia.
Commercial Applications. Over 1 billion people live in houses made of bamboo. In India alone over 2.2m tonnes of bamboo is used for paper alone. Other applications include food, construction (scaffolding), joinery, panels, flooring, furniture, charcoal, pulp and paper, textiles, energy and biofuels.
High Value. Due to the above, bamboo has a high $ value and produces investor returns annually commencing as early as Year 4.
Green Earth Africa environmental company primarily in Southern Africa but has international markets and off takes for its products and markets its environmental offsets, carbon, wildlife and water internationally. Green Earth Africa have assessed numerous plantation varieties and have chosen the best suited species for the areas in which they operate and have a broad cross section of short, medium and long term timber investments not only to spread investors risks but also take advantage of global demands and price fluctuations and have selected the best global forestry investment opportunities to recommend to you.
When investing in sustainable forestry selecting the right forestry/environmental company is paramount, and with this bamboo investment you could not be in safer hands:
- Managed forestry is a science that can increase the productivity of land by ten times or more depending on the processes and technologies implemented across the lifespan of the forestry. Site selection and preparation, growth and choice of seedlings, planting, fertilization, watering, pruning, ground maintenance and thinning all improve the harvest performance enormously.
- Green Earth Africa works with governments and other related industries to improve and promote managed forestry while investing in a number of community projects near their plantations.
- Green Earth Africa use a certain type of bamboo known as “Timber Bamboo”, ideal for investors because it produces mature timber after just 4 years. Other varieties are currently undergoing suitability testing for the soil and climatic conditions in the various sites Green earth Africa has under it’s control.
- Your investment will be monitored and cared for by the Green Earth Africa team and protected by 24 hr security on site. In addition Green Earth Africa internal auditors monitor plantation health through a random sampling process with independent auditors evaluating plantation health and growth.
- Investors are invited to visit their land plot at anytime, trips can be arranged by Green Earth Africa and combined with a safari holiday if so wished.
Investment Unit Options:
İnvestors can purchase bamboo in Units of 20, 50, 100, 200 or 500 clumps
As with any investment your purchase price ($) per clump is slightly cheaper as you purchase in “bulk”;
CLUMPS |
US$ |
$/CLUMP |
20 |
$5,500 |
$275 |
50 |
$12,000 |
$240 |
100 |
$23,000 |
$230 |
200 |
$45,000 |
$225 |
500 |
$100,000 |
$200 |
See full list of assumptions and explanations on following page. All calculations assume that 1 clump of bamboo produces approximately 158 poles over a 15 yr period, and are determined using today’s $ value per clump (farm gate price) of approximately $5.40/clump.
As $/clump decreases with larger investments so the forecast return on investment increases
- 1 Unit = 20 clumps
- Investment = $5,500
- 20 clumps * 158 poles = 3160 total
- Total Forecast Return = $19,072
- Effective IRR = 17%
FOR A LARGER INVESTMENT:
- 1 Unit = 500 clumps
- Investment = $100,000
- 500 clumps * 158 poles = 71,100 total
- Total Forecast Return = $476,300
- Effective IRR = 24%
Here these annual forecast returns** are broken down for each investment unit size:
Investment $5,500 $12,000 $23,000 $45,000 and $100,000
Clumps 20 50 100 200 and 500
| INVESTMENT |
US$5500 |
US$12,000 |
US$23,000 |
US$45,000 |
US$100,000 |
| CLUMPS |
20 |
50 |
100 |
200 |
500 |
| 1 |
$- |
$- |
$- |
$- |
$- |
| 2 |
$- |
$- |
$- |
$- |
$- |
| Y 3 |
$- |
$- |
$- |
$- |
$- |
| E 4 |
$860.00 |
$2,150.00 |
$4,300.00 |
$8,600.00 |
$21,500.00 |
| A 5 |
$860.00 |
$2,150.00 |
$4,300.00 |
$8,600.00 |
$21,500.00 |
| R 6 |
$1,032.00 |
$2,580.00 |
$5,160.00 |
$10,320.00 |
$25,800.00 |
| S 7 |
$1,750.00 |
$4,375.00 |
$8,750.00 |
$17,500.00 |
$43,750.00 |
| 8 |
$1,750.00 |
$4,375.00 |
$8,750.00 |
$17,500.00 |
$43,750.00 |
| 9 |
$1,750.00 |
$4,375.00 |
$8,750.00 |
$17,500.00 |
$43,750.00 |
| 10 |
$1,800.00 |
$4,500.00 |
$9,000.00 |
$18,000.00 |
$45,000.00 |
| 11 |
$1,850.00 |
$4,625.00 |
$9,250.00 |
$18,500.00 |
$46,250.00 |
| 12 |
$1,850.00 |
$4,625.00 |
$9,250.00 |
$18,500.00 |
$46,250.00 |
| 13 |
$1,850.00 |
$4,625.00 |
$9,250.00 |
$18,500.00 |
$46,250.00 |
| 14 |
$1,850.00 |
$4,625.00 |
$9,250.00 |
$18,500.00 |
$46,250.00 |
| 15 |
$1,850.00 |
$4,625.00 |
$9,250.00 |
$18,500.00 |
$46,250.00 |
| GROSS RETURN |
$19,072.00 |
$47,680.00 |
$95,260.00 |
$190,520.00 |
$476,300.00 |
| GROSS% |
381% |
397% |
414% |
423% |
476% |
| ANNUAL AV |
25% |
26% |
28% |
28% |
32% |
| IRR |
16% |
17% |
19% |
19% |
21% |
** Please note these are forecast returns for indicative purposes only and are not guaranteed and can not be relied upon. These forecast returns are based on the assumption that 1 clump of bamboo produces approximately 158 poles over a 15 yr period, and are determined using today’s $ value per clump (farm gate price) of approximately $5.40/clump. Clump yield and harvest is based on worldwide averages for bamboo harvests. Market value per clump is based on independent valuation.
Valuation research was conducted between December 2008 and February 2009. The value of timber has increased on average 6% per annum over the past century, however this increase has not been factored into the above figures and would have a significant positive effect on the returns if included - these forecast returns are very conservative.
PLOT EXAMINATION REPORT:
At any time an owner can request a Plot Examination Report that will be conducted by the Green earth Africa team in the plantation and it will reflect the current status of your plot. The report will include such details as average diameter, average height and growth rate of the trees, dates of fertilization, soil conditions, and a general overview of your plot. Clients are also provided with an annual ‘Plantation Quality Evaluation Report’ produced by an Forestry Experts.
NEWSLETER:
Investors can also subscribe to a quarterly Email newsletter containing relevant updates, news and market information.
SITE VISITS:
If you would like to see your investment first hand then please get in touch. Investors are actively encouraged to visit their plots and see their investment first hand. If you want to combine a safari holiday with a viewing of your plot our Green Earth Africa will be happy to give you a tour and show you your specific plot.
Replacement: Green Earth Africa will ensure that more than 95% of the number of trees planted shall reach maturity by maintaining a fully stocked reserve stand of trees. This reserve shall be used to replace any trees that do not survive or under perform.
Insurance: An additional independent insurance option has been prepared and is available should an investor wish.
Fire: All fire precautions are put in place with large fire breaks and fire fighting equipment on site throughout our plantations..
Drought: Mature bamboo has deep root drip systems that also feed the younger trees.
Flooding: Mature Trees not affected.
Disease/Pests: All diseases and pests known and handled by the forestry manager.
Theft: 24 hour security guards.
Investors will receive annual incomes until the end of the 15 yr life cycle. As such most clients will want to hold onto their investment and receive the annual returns for the full term. Upon completion of the 15 yr term the bamboo becomes redundant, the investor receives the final income and the investment closes.However should an investor need to exit their investment, they have the right to transfer ownership of their Forestry Agreement to another party at any stage of the agreement term provided that the new buyer completes the necessary legal transfer documents provided and satisfies a basic due diligence requirement.
1. Decide how much you would like to invest and discuss with your consultant
2. Complete an application form, submit anti-money laundering documents and make your payment.
3. Once your application is complete your bamboo will be planted you will receive:
- Welcome Letter;
- Forestry Certificate;
- Official Receipts;
- Transfer Form;
- Appointment of Beneficiary Form;
- Green Earth Africa Forestry Agreement
- Green Earth Africa Lease Agreement
You will be able to monitor your trees progress through the web site of Green Earth Africa, have regular updates and ‘Plot Examination Reports’. You will also have your own personal login information to the Forestry division of the Green Earth Africa Company website allowing you to access and monitor your account/ investment.
5. Your Bamboo will be harvested from Yr 4 and occur every year until the end of your lease term. Your harvested bamboo will be sold on your behalf (unless you choose to manage the sale yourself) and proceeds less management fee will be paid into your designated bank account as per the signed agreements. Management fee for this complete service is 9% of the proceeds from the harvest.
6. At the end of the lease after your investment is finished the ground is replanted with a fresh crop ensuring the sustainable cycle continues and dwindling natural bamboo supplies are protected.
If you would like to invest and reserve a plot please contact Green Earth Africa:
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