JOHANNESBURG, March 3 (Reuters) - The UK's development

finance vehicle British International Investment is preparing to

take a controlling stake in Zambian food producer Zambeef in its

push to back companies that help strengthen food supply in the

region, its Africa head Chris Chijiutomi told Reuters.

Key details:

* BII first invested in Zambeef in 2016 and is the food

producer's largest shareholder with an 17.5% stake, including

preference shares. BII intends to swap the latter into

normal shares, which would lift its stake to 59.29%.

* A majority stake would allow BII it to push for changes to

improve performance and expansion, Chijiutomi said.

* He said BII hopes to build Zambeef into "not only a

Zambian champion, but potentially a Southern African champion,"

tying it to the investor's food and food security priorities

* BII is set to launch a new five-year strategy this year,

which will include a clearer commitment to invest in poorer

frontier markets - economies that are smaller, riskier and at

times struggle to attract investor money.

* "We are going to dial up a focus on what we call frontier

markets," he said, pointing to Sierra Leone, Zambia, Democratic

Republic of Congo and Ethiopia.

* BII aims to link up with African savings pools from

pension funds to sovereign wealth vehicles, said Chijiutomi

pointing to partnerships with Nigeria's sovereign wealth fund

and South Africa's Public Investment Corporation.

* Chijiutomi said Africa, which accounts for about 60% of

its portfolio of roughly 10 billion British pound ($13.31

billion), remains central to BII and its focus on inclusion,

productivity and climate, including renewables and sustainable

agriculture.

($1 = 0.7515 pounds)