RIYADH, Saudi Arabia--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jun 30, 2025--
Jadwa Investment, a leading investment management and advisory firm in the Middle East, today announced it has led a USD 50 million investment round in PetroApp, Saudi Arabia’s leading fuel management platform, through its flagship blind-pool vehicle, Jadwa GCC Diversified Private Equity Fund. Bunat Ventures, a regional venture capital firm, also participated in the round.
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Founded in 2018, PetroApp is Saudi Arabia’s first independent provider of digital fuel payment and fleet management solutions. It is transforming vehicle operations by eliminating cash transactions, reducing fraud, and improving cost control for corporate and government fleets. Beyond fuel, PetroApp also enables access to ancillary services—such as car washes, oil changes, tire and battery replacements—via a seamless, fully cashless platform.
Today, PetroApp manages over 500,000 vehicles for 10,000+ corporate clients through a network of more than 5,000 fuel stations across Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Thailand, and Nigeria, as the company continues its international expansion. It was recently accredited by the Expenditure and Projects Efficiency Authority (EXPRO) as a qualified provider for government sector services and is preparing to launch its retail offering in the Kingdom, unlocking significant avenues for growth.
This transaction marks Jadwa’s fifth investment under its Jadwa GCC Diversified Private Equity Fund, launched in late 2024. It follows the fund’s recent landmark acquisition of a majority stake in Makhazen Alenaya, a market leader in Saudi Arabia’s beauty and personal care retail sector, highlighting Jadwa’s active pipeline across high-growth verticals.
Tariq Al-Sudairy, Managing Director and CEO of Jadwa Investment, commented: “PetroApp presents a compelling investment opportunity, supported by a robust technology infrastructure and strong network effects. The investment aligns with our fund’s strategy of backing ambitious management teams leading high-growth, scalable businesses across a diversified range of promising sectors.”
Elie El-Khoury, Head of Private Equity at Jadwa Investment, added: “PetroApp’s impactful solution reflects the kind of innovation that supports Vision 2030’s broader shift toward digitizing critical sectors across the Kingdom. This is further reflected in PetroApp’s recent accreditation as a qualified service provider by EXPRO.”
Abdullah Al Kasabi, Chairman of PetroApp and CEO of RZM Investment, emphasized the significance of this investment round, describing it as a turning point for the company. He stated: “Back in 2020, we saw in PetroApp a promising model that blends innovation with operational efficiency in serving both fuel stations and corporate clients. Our decision to invest was driven by a clear conviction in the company’s vision and its strong potential to deliver sustainable growth. Today, we are proud to welcome Jadwa Investment and Bunat Ventures. This marks a defining milestone in PetroApp’s institutional journey and supports our ambition to list on the Saudi Exchange’s Main Market.”
Abdulaziz Al Senan, Co-Founder and CEO of PetroApp, expressed his enthusiasm about the deal, saying: “We are excited to embark on this partnership at a pivotal stage in PetroApp’s journey. Jadwa’s institutional expertise will be critical in strengthening our foundation, accelerating growth, and expanding our leadership in Saudi Arabia and beyond. Together, we remain committed to setting new benchmarks in fuel and fleet management innovation, aligning with our customers’ evolving expectations and the broader objectives of Saudi Vision 2030.”
About Jadwa Investment
Jadwa Investment is a Riyadh-headquartered investment management and advisory firm with more than SAR 100 billion (USD 30 billion) in client assets across public equity, private equity, real estate, private credit, fixed income, and money market investments. Its clients include government-related entities, local and international institutional investors, prominent family offices, and high-net-worth individuals.
Jadwa Investment is licensed by the Capital Market Authority of Saudi Arabia (CMA) as a capital market institution, with registration number 06034-37.
Source:AETOSWire
Jadwa leads a USD 50 million investment round in PetroApp (Photo: AETOSWire)
KONA, Ghana (AP) — Manu Yaw Fofie was born into the cocoa farming business, but the land bequeathed to him has become more of a burden than a blessing. A sharp fall in cocoa prices over the past year has left beans rotting in some West African warehouses, while global chocolate makers scramble for supplies and consumers seek their fix.
With less money coming in, the 52-year-old Fofie in Ghana has taken the desperate step of giving part of his land to illegal sand miners, a lucrative practice driven by high construction demand since sand is used in concrete.
The cost is severe, however: the sand mining makes the land infertile.
Aware of the danger, Fofie said he had been left with little choice. He said annual cocoa bean yields has been declining over the years, from the past heyday of 300 bags to 50 bags in 2025, affected by factors including climate change.
Fofie is one of many cocoa farmers in Ghana and Ivory Coast — countries responsible for nearly 70% of the global cocoa bean supply — who are putting their land for other uses after the price of the once high-flying commodity crashed.
Ivory Coast, the world’s leading cocoa producer, had to purchase an excess supply of cocoa beans from farmers in January and this week slashed the price by more than half for 2026.
While a global commodity like cocoa beans is prone to occasional crisis, Ghanaian authorities were not prepared for one at this scale, said Edward Karaweh, former general secretary of the General Agricultural Workers Union.
“Preparation allows you to mitigate the crisis. It is not that you prevent the crisis altogether,” Karaweh said.
Hundreds of thousands of farmers in West Africa rely on cocoa farming for a living. In Ivory Coast, cocoa bean exports make up 40% of the total export revenue. In neighboring Ghana, they make up nearly 15%.
Government regulators set a fixed price for the cocoa bean at the beginning of every planting season, and the majority of the beans are sold through government-licensed parties to protect farmers from price fluctuations on the international market.
However, after a surge in cocoa futures in 2024 on international markets, the futures — a contract to buy a commodity at an agreed-upon price on a future date — reached more than $12,000 per metric ton, the highest in decades. Then it crashed to around $4,000 as supply outstripped demand.
The downturn in price meant global traders would run at a loss if they purchased cocoa beans from the two African countries.
That led to a mounting stockpile of rotting cocoa beans in warehouses, while farmers who already sold their stocks to governments have not been paid for months.
With structural issues, farmers said they missed out on benefiting from the original surge. The whiplash in prices made some decide enough was enough.
Walking through his cocoa trees in Ivory Coast, François N’Gbin pointed to blackened, dried-up pods caused by disease and a lack of rain.
He said he also has given up part of his land, for a fee, to illegal gold miners, then obtained a mining license out of fear of the authorities.
The mining area, partly filled with murky, yellowish water, covers at least 1,000 square meters (1,200 square yards) on his farm.
“Today, gold is more profitable than cocoa,” he said. “We get 1,500 CFA francs ($2.67) per gram of gold, and we’re about to negotiate an increase.”
Many other farmers are finding other uses for their farms, including leasing them to illegal gold miners, according to Moussa Koné, president of the Ivorian cocoa farmers’ union.
“Cocoa is not selling, but farmers still need money to feed their families,” he said.
Ghana has initiated efforts to loosen regulations on price controls, and in January slashed its fixed price for cocoa beans by 28% to 41,392 cedis ($3,881) per metric ton, in an attempt to make the beans more accessible to buyers.
This week, Ivory Coast also slashed the price paid to cocoa farmers by more than half to 1,200 CFA ($2.13) per kilogram ($0.97 per pound) for 2026.
Farmers say the price cut has left their profit margin very slim when they factor in the costs of production.
“Accepting the current price means my son will have to drop out of school,” said Mercy Amponsah, a 50-year-old cocoa farmer in Ghana. Shee was among the farmers who visited the capital, Accra, in January to protest the price cut.
Some cocoa producers elsewhere in the world — South America and Asia — have improved their supply but West Africa still makes up the bulk of production.
Farmers like Fofie say they must find other ways to survive, however.
“If I keep this cocoa farm for the next 10 years, I would die a poor man,” he said.
Adetayo reported from Lagos, Nigeria.
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A drone view shows a section of a cocoa farm given over to sand mining in Kona, Ghana, Friday, March 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Tsraha Yaw)
Manu Yaw Fofie, a cocoa farmer, walks through his farm in Kona, Ghana, Friday, March 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Tsraha Yaw)
Cocoa beans in a storage facility in Kona, Ghana, Friday, March 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Tsraha Yaw)
Bags of cocoa beans are stacked in a storage facility in Kona, Ghana, Friday, March 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Tsraha Yaw)
Manu Yaw Fofie, a cocoa farmer, walks through a section of his farm that has been given over to sand mining in Kona, Ghana, Friday, March 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Tsraha Yaw)
