The 2nd Edition Of The Agrique Africa Investment Summit

 

The Agrique Africa Investment Summit 2016 will bring together experienced financiers, investors and seasoned business leaders to share their experiences in respect to investing or financing African

Following on from the success of our first Agrique Africa Investment Summit in Accra November 2015; Welcome2Africa will be hosting the 2nd edition of our Agrique Africa Investment Summit. The summit will take place 23rd June 2016 at Sofitel, St James, London 

We have selected the world's financial capital, London, as the host location, and this edition of the Agrique Africa series will draw upon the experiences of investors and financiers. We have invited seasoned investors to share

their investment insights and knowledge with respect to investing in African agribusinesses.

The Agrique Africa Investment Summit 2016 will also provide an opportunity for a selection of midsized agribusinesses seeking growth finance from Africa with outstanding investment opportunities to make investment pitches.

CONTACT US

For other questions and comments email info@welcome2africa.org June 23^rd 2016, Sofitel, St James, London 

Partnerships, networks and alliances are becoming increasingly vital to the successful development and increased commercialisation of Agribusiness in Africa.

With innovation emerging around the world, The Agrique Africa Investment Summit 2016 provides an event for international stakeholders to meet, network and forge new business relationships, with the goal of accelerating investment into Africa’s Agricultural sector. The Welcome2Africa team, will also be available throughout the conference to facilitate introductions.

Speakers

Clément Chenost Investment Director, Moringa Fund

“Clément is a co-founder and investment director of the Moringa fund, a pioneer €84 m impact fund dedicated to profitable agroforestry projects with high environmental and social impacts located in Latin America and sub-Saharan Africa. He started his career in 2006 at the French Forestry Commission before joining the sustainable development team of Ernst & Young. There, he initiated and successfully implemented the forest certification activity of the firm. After that, Clément was head of business development at ONFI where he initiated the Moringa Fund with the Edmond de Rothschild group. Clément studied Biology at the Ecole Normale Supérieure.  He has a Masters Degree in Ecology and Biology, an Executive Masters in Environmental Management (Mines & Agro ParisTech) and a private equity certificate from the Wharton School.”

Simon Glossop

CEO, Camscorp & Chairman (EOC) – Octopus Investments

CEO of CAMSCORP the African commodity development company. CAMSCORP works in 10 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa in agricultural commodities and mineral deposits. It owns assets as well as advising, financing and building supply chains to bring products to the global market. Simon has over 15 years investment banking experience in New York, London and Tokyo. Since 2010 he has built commodity business in Africa and Asia, successfully building many supply chains from inception, as well as providing start-up capital, financing and producing significant global International export volumes. Simon has been involved in many successful start-up businesses notably Credit Market Analysis Limited. Simon has numerous non-executive roles and is currently Chairman of Octopus Investments EOC committee, Octopus runs over £5.5 billion in funds in the UK.

Othman Tlemcani, Principal Banker, Agribusiness, European Bank For Redevelopment and Construction

Othman has been with the EBRD since December 2011 and is based in the Bank’s London Headquarters. He has led several direct equity and debt investments (13 closings to date) along the Agribusiness value chain (including farming, processing, trading, and distribution) and across the Bank’s countries of operation, predominantly in the MENA region. Othman has contributed to building the Bank’s deal pipeline in the MENA region and was behind some of the Bank’s first investments in the region.

Before joining the EBRD, Othman was a Vice-President at SFCS, a Swiss and Dubai based family office, where he built the corporate finance practice, advising the family office on numerous investment projects in the Middle-East and Africa. Previous to SFCS, Othman was an investment banker with Millennium Finance Corporation, the investment banking arm of Dubai Islamic Bank, where he participated in a broad range of cross-border M&A and IPO transactions, including the USD 5 billion IPO of DP World. Previous to Dubai, Othman worked for Societe Generale in Paris, as a loan trader in the EMEA secondary loan market team, trading distressed, LBO, and corporate loans. 

Othman received a Master’s degree from Paris Dauphine University in 2004, and a Postgraduate degree in Strategy and Finance, in 2006, from ESSEC Business School, Paris, France.

Piers Cumberlege, Global Sustainable Capital Management (GSCM)

Piers Cumberlege is a Director and member of the Audit and Remuneration Cttee of GSCM, a fund manager investing in climate-smart agriculture in high growth markets.  He is also Chairman Europe of Veracity Worldwide, a political and risk and business intelligence advisory firm, and advises high-growth companies in the social media, technology, and sustainability sectors. Previously Piers headed the World Economic Forum’s relationships with its Strategic Partners and the leading global Professional Services firms. He has held a variety of leadership roles in the emerging markets private equity, infrastructure, telecommunications, and manufacturing sectors.  Current directorships include South Pole Group and CARE Canada; he has also served on the boards of several listed and private companies in Europe, North America, and Russia. Piers has structured and managed public-private partnerships and served as a government adviser on corporate affairs, trade, and investment policy related to Africa, India, Russia, Japan, and China. He holds a master’s degree from Oxford University and a graduate business degree from Coventry University, and speaks several languages.

Ashkan Rahmati, Investment Executive, Private Equity Team, CDC

Ashkan sits within the Private Equity team and is involved in analysing, identifying and executing opportunities in Africa and South Asia. Prior to joining CDC, Ashkan worked in the investment banking division at Renaissance Capital working primarily within the Mergers and Acquisitions team. He focused on buy-side, sell-side and advisory mandates in a number of sectors including Oil & Gas, Metals & Mining, Agriculture and Real Estate across Africa. 

ALEX SIMUYANDI, GROUP OPERATIONS DIRECTOR

Alex oversees AgDevCo’s operations, HR, and ESG & Impact functions, and sits on the Portfolio Management Committee. Alex gained extensive experience of agricultural commodities at Czarnikow Group, where he was responsible for Business Development, Governance, Risk and Global Operations. Alex has also worked for the Internet Service Provider, AfriConnect Zambia. He has an MSc in Development Management from the London School of Economics, a BSc in Management Sciences from Warwick Business School and has undertaken Executive Education at London and Henley Business Schools.

Other Speakers Include:

·         Tracey Austin, Director, Impact Investing, Palladeum

·         Youval Raisin, CEO, Deke Palm Oil

·         Kenny Washington, Head of Major Donors, Christian Aid

·         *Honourable Minister Audu Innocent Ogbeh, Minister Of Agriculture, Nigeria

·         *Honourable Minister Given Lubinda, Minister Of Agriculture, Zambia

Source: For more please visit: http://www.agriqueafrica.com/

 

Improving Efficiency in the Food System in Kenya

 

Reducing food loss can help to increase the amount of food that reaches market, helping to make the food system more sustainable. TechnoServe is working with The Rockefeller Foundation in Kenya to optimize the reduction of loss in the mango value chain

 The United Nations reports that the world will need to produce 70 percent more food by 2050 in order to feed the projected world population of 9.6 billion. However, this increase is a huge burden on already strained agricultural resources, such as land and water. Making the global food system more efficient is a necessary step in being able to feed the world’s population in the future, while also limiting the amount of natural resources used towards agriculture.

One of the primary inefficiencies of the global food system is food loss and waste. Food loss happens in various parts of the value chain. Some crops are destroyed in the field before ever making it to market. Other crops are harvested and then spoil on the way to market. Consumers contribute to food waste every time someone goes grocery shopping and throws out fruits and vegetables before eating. It is estimated that almost 30 percent of the world’s agricultural land is devoted to producing food that will never even be eaten because of these inefficiencies.

Fruits and vegetables have particularly high rates of loss; the Food and Agriculture Organization estimates losses for these commodities to be between 37 and 55 percent. Building upon knowledge of the mango value chain from Project Nurture, TechnoServe has partnered with the Rockefeller Foundation to implement the YieldWise initiative in Kenya. The initiative has piloted several technologies to help reduce post-harvest loss, while training smallholders, stimulating the market demand for mangoes and connecting farmers with buyers and giving them access to innovative finance mechanisms. Building off the first phase of on the ground testing, YieldWise hopes to reduce losses from 21 percent to 10 percent by the end of the initiative.

As of December 2015, TechnoServe had facilitated increased buyer demand by linking nine buyers to farmers and farmer business organizations. Over 4,100 farmers had received training on three main topics: agronomy, including post-harvest management; farmer group governance; and business skills.  

More Mangoes and More Income

Joyce Musya, a mother of three and the vice secretary of the Upendo Fruit Farmers Self Help Group, is one mango farmer seeing reduced loss because of these interventions. Previously, she was losing almost 2,000 mangoes – or 20 percent of her harvest – each season to fruit flies and mango rust disease. Once the mangoes were exposed to mango rust, they no longer met export standards, which meant that Joyce was unable to sell to large exporters, and had to sell a lower quality crop for as low as $118 for the entire season, greatly reducing her income.

After years, of frustration with her mango crop, Joyce was ready to replace her mango tree with oranges, meaning she would have to wait almost three years until the trees matured before she would have a new crop. But after interventions from TechnoServe, where she learned about good agricultural practices, Joyce invested in fruit fly traps and began a proper spraying practice to protect her mangoes from rust. She was able to sell over 8,000 mangoes the following season for $522.

With this increase in income she is now able to pay school fees for her two sons currently in university. She feels empowered and excited for the next mango season, where she is hoping to increase her harvest even more, and put the profits of her harvest towards renovating her home.

When farmers are able to harvest more of their crops, it helps to not only increase their incomes, but to create a more efficient and sustainable food system. Preventing post harvest losses is an important step in working towards feeding the world’s population and using 

http://www.technoserve.org/blog/improving-efficiency-in-the-food-system-in-kenya

Agribusiness Provides a Path to Youth Employment in Africa

The agricultural sector in many parts of Africa provides large potential to create economic opportunity for youth. However, youth are increasingly moving away from agriculture and rural areas to find employment in urban areas. Rural youth often do not consider agribusinesses as a viable option for employment. Yet increasing employment on farms and in value chains is a necessary component to creating a sustainable and inclusive food system.

The African Youth Agripreneurship Program (AYAP), funded in partnership with Barclays Africa, is working to encourage youth employment in the agribusiness. The program, which began in January of 2015, seeks to provide technical and business skills to youth operating businesses within the agricultural value chain, such as food processing and farming, as well as improving their access to markets and finance.

The program provides support to start-up businesses, as well a serving as a business accelerator to established businesses, which have been in operation for more than three years and have high growth potential for expansion and creating youth employment. The program has worked with 20 potential entrepreneurs.

Frustrated with the time-consuming nature of cooking her meals due to a lack of ready made ingredients, Audrey Allotey, a single and very busy woman entrepreneur realized that Ghanaian culture was shifting to faster-paced lifestyle, where the time for cooking at home meals has become limited.

With that in mind, the then 29-year-old launched Audylot Company Limited, which provides ready-to-use spices and flavoring products to eager Ghanaian consumers, in 2012. However, in the beginning, Audrey struggled to get  financing to grow her business,stagnating in the start-up phase.

Audrey found support from AYAP and TechnoServe’s Enhancing Growth in New Enterprises (ENGINE) program, which provided her with technical and financial support to grow the business. Today the company has seen production capacity increase by 50 percent. She has also been able to hire five permanent staff members, all women and mothers, and has up to 10 casual workers when production is high.

In addition, she has managed to gain traction in Ghana’s high-end supermarkets because of her natural product, which is free of preservatives and additives, appealing to the health conscious consumer. Audrey has big plans for her growing company. She has taken steps in developing a sustainable sourcing strategy, as well as improving product traceability.

"This business venture allows me to merge a variety of passions, and by doing so, I am able to improve the lives of my employees," said Audrey.