Bees, Blueberries and the Sun – What a time to be an impact investor!

My referral link and code to Fedgroup – 00WLDYS.

Out of all my ethical impact investments so far, this has to have been the easiest….as long as you are South African.

The return ranges from 10%-16% with a 1% yearly fee. The return is at the top end of Ethical Impact Investments I’ve seen, but it is in a volatile currency (Rand) and not exceptional by South African standards, which has to match the return with the additional risk.

Additionally, South Africa currently has an inflation rate hovering around 5%, which I expect to continue, as South Africa is still relatively cheap by Global Standards.

After downloading the Fedgroup App, I was signed up and investing in minutes. The app is slick and well integrated, very impressive, the only annoying feature was the back button on my android exited the app, rather than going back a step.

The investment options:

  • Solar –
    • IRR 10-12% (less 1% annual fee) – dependent on site go live time frame
    • R5,000 increments or purchase blocks
    • About 3-5 months until the site is live
    • Monthly cashflow
    • 20 years of returns starting at 8% climbing to 14% in the 10th year and anticipated 32% in year 20.
    • I am still new to SA tax, but if I understand correctly, the investment is written off against taxable income in the first year.
  • Blueberries –
    • IRR 12-14% (less 1% annual fee)
    • R300 increments
    • 8 years of twice yearly (Q1 and Q4) cashflow returns growing from 4% in the 1st year, to 24% in year 4 and 35% in year 8.
    • If I understand correctly, the investment is written off against taxable income over 5 years.
  • Honey Bees
    • IRR 14-16% (less 1% annual fee)
    • R4,000 increments
    • 10 years of twice yearly (Q2 and Q4) cashflow returns growing from 4% in the 1st year, to 28% in year 10. Probably more variable.
    • If I understand correctly, the investment is written off against taxable income over 5 years.

There are also some cool graphs, if a little difficult to interpret and it shows their partners to add credibility.

There are also bundle options – with some promos giving a discount initially:

  • Taster R500 (R100 discount) – 2 x blueberry
  • Micro R5,000 (R500 discount) – 5x blueberry and 1 x honey
  • With various bundles up to R116,000

Other Information:

The return is underwritten and I’ll look at the assurances and tax incentives more when I look to invest a weightier amount.

A nice touch is that a cash deposit into the wallet is interesting bearing wallet (4.5%). Something I have been concerned with my other ethical impact investments, is that my cash sits there being lazy, until the project starts or I have enough for the next investment increment.


I purchased the R500 discounted bundle of 2 Blueberry Bushels. The money is taken out of my bank account via debit order (for those from the UK, this is akin to a Direct Debit, not a standing order).

I then had the option to refer others –

The referral promo has a timeline, pressurising you to buy to take advantage of a discounted bundle, or should I rather say providing an incentive to act now. If I had known this, I may have held out until I had R5,000 to invest (£270).

“Become a farmer too!

I just became an Impact Farmer and you can too! Simply download the Fedgroup App http://fdgrp.co/refer?ref=00WLDYS, register using my referral code 00WLDYS and start owning blueberries, beehives or solar panels. Earn an income while saving the world! Let’s do this!”


Wrap up

Going forward, depending on how Project FIRE40 progresses and whether my wealth strategy is focused on Business, Paper or Property, I plan to allocate a portion of my South African income to these investments.

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