IPS - 50 years of industrial development in West Africa

50 years of industrial development in West Africa

IPS (WA) 50 years of industrial development in West Africa

Publisher: IPS (WA), 2015 This publication is also available in French. © All rights reserved This book is protected by copyright. No portion of this book may be distributed or reproduced by any means, or in any form, without IPS (WA)’s prior written permission.

Industrial Promotion Services (West Africa) 62, Boulevard Schoelcher – Cocody 01 BP 3963 Abidjan 01 République de Côte d’Ivoire Tel: +225 22 40 08 00 Fax: +225 22 44 72 74 info@ips-wa.org www.ips-wa.org

Co-ordination: communication@ips-wa.org Design: Beltza scs Chiquinquirá Garcia chiqui@beltza.be Author: Laurence D’Hondt laurencedhondt@gmail.com www.laurencedhondt.info Photographs: Gaël Turine gael@gaelturine.com www.gaelturine.com Archive images Copyright: Centre Ouest Africain de l’Image (Louis Normand photographic archive ) Image bank: MB&A Photographer: Louis Normand Printed by: Imprimerie Pauwels sprl info@impresor-ariane.eu www.impresor-ariane.eu Printed on Triple Star 350gsm silk paper (cover) and 150gsm silk coated paper (inside pages) English translation: Judith Alsop, Susan Mackervoy, Eleanor McClean, Ros Mendy, Isabel Varea Riley, Ros Schwartz Translations Ltd ros@rosschwartz.co.uk

IPS (WA) 50 years of industrial development in West Africa

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IPS (WA) 50 years of industrial development in West Africa

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Humanity’s most outstanding achievements often have their origins in a simple bond of friendship – a golden rule that also holds true for the story of IPS (WA). In the 1960s, after many African states had gained their independence, Félix Houphouët-Boigny, President of Côte d’Ivoire, and His Highness Karim Aga Khan, the 49th Imam of the Shia Ismaili Muslims, came to know and respect each other.

Côte d’Ivoire’s first president was looking for new ways of utilising his country’s resources effectively – while the spiritual leader of the Ismaili community wanted to help African countries build their industrial capability, as a pathway for development.

Before long the two men had created an organisation dedicated to turning this shared aspiration into reality: Industrial Promotion Services (West Africa), abbreviated as IPS (WA). With their complementary aims and shared vision, they quickly took the next practical step forward, identifying a concrete opportunity for realising their aims. At this time Côte d’Ivoire was focusing on cocoa as the crop that would drive its development. Yet it lacked a packaging capability and so the cocoa pods and beans were rotting on the ground. As it happened, His Highness the Aga Khan had already invested in the jute industry in Bangladesh, where this fibrous plant was used to manufacture sturdy sacks for packaging local foodstuffs. Rather than importing large quantities of these sacks from Bangladesh, IPS (WA) decided to manufacture jute sacks in Côte d’Ivoire. The first packaging factory came into being, located on the Atlantic shoreline. This factory, called Filtisac, became the economic engine driving IPS (WA), setting a benchmark for the industrial world of independent Côte d’Ivoire. This was in 1965 – fifty years ago.

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His Highness Karim Aga Khan with President Félix Houphouët-Boigny and his wife at the official opening in March 1967 of Filtisac, the first packaging factory in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire.

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Throughout these changes IPS (WA) maintained a consistent strategic course: focusing primarily on high value-added businesses that contribute to local development.

Half a century later, IPS (WA) has reached maturity. Like any company with ambitions to grow, IPS (WA) initially built expertise in a specific area before diversifying and expanding the range of its operations.

For example, although jute sacks are suitable for the cocoa and coffee so abundantly produced in Côte d’Ivoire, cereals, flour, cement and cotton require packaging with a denser weave: it became clear that polypropylene sacks would need to be produced for these commodities. In 1982, a new production line for sacks made of synthetic fibres was established opposite the buildings where the jute is processed. The new production operation was able to draw on the company’s existing expertise in jute, while adapting to the specific characteristics of a new primary material. At the same time, IPS (WA) also invested in metal processing, with TOLE IVOIRE in 1969 and TOLMALI in 1979 – the latter being the group’s first investment outside Côte d’Ivoire. In 1988, IPS (WA) acquired four West African companies specialising in aluminium processing from the Pechiney group (Ivoiral in Côte d’Ivoire, CBTM in Burkina Faso, CSTM in Senegal and Nigéral in Niger) while also developing a small business division encompassing COTOA, COFIPECHE, AFRIBACHE and CHIMTEC. Today only CHIMTEC – enabling IPS (WA) to import polymers and colorants directly – has remained within the group.

Throughout these changes IPS (WA) maintained a consistent strategic course: focusing primarily on high value-added businesses that contribute to local development. Now the packaging operations were set to see a new phase of dynamic growth: having developed its operations to serve a range of market needs, Filtisac extended its reach into neighbouring states. A series of new packaging factories connected to IPS (WA) opened during the 1990s: Cofisac and Fumoa in Dakar, Senegal, in 1995; Fasoplast in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, also in 1995; and Embalmali in Bamako, Mali, in 1999. Spearheaded by those first packaging businesses created by IPS (WA), a whole new industrial geography was now taking shape across the countries of West Africa – a web, discreetly woven by the jute, imported from Bangladesh.

The Republican Guard of honour at the entrance to the Filtisac factory at its offiical opening on 16 March 1967.

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Along with other acquisitions in the metal industry, the TOLES IVOIRE factory, acquired by IPS (WA) in 1969, opened up a new industrial sector for IPS (WA).

West Africa underwent major changes during the late 1990s.

Governments decided to privatise large swathes of the economy which had previously remained under state ownership. The agribusiness sector opened up to private investments. This was the perfect opportunity for IPS (WA) to take a closer interest in the commodities its factories were packaging with such consummate professionalism. In 1998, IPS (WA) took decisive action, acquiring – in conjunction with the Swiss company Paul Reinhart-AG – three cotton production units located in the north-west of the country, and creating Ivoire Coton. A decade later the group also acquired the M’Bengué production unit, located further to the north, which merged with Ivoire Coton in 2012. Then in 2014, IPS (WA) moved into one of Côte d’Ivoire’s most promising agribusiness sectors: processing cashew nuts into kernels, establishing Cajou des Savanes in Bouaké in 2014. In the neighbouring state of Burkina Faso, IPS (WA) invested in Société du Sucre de la Haute-Volta in 1998. This state-owned company was providing a livelihood for thousands of families in the south-west of the country but was struggling to compete with sugar importers. IPS (WA) felt a strong sense of mission here, fired with the ambition of restoring this company’s dynamism, whatever the difficulties involved. Now renamed SN SOSUCO, today the company is the country’s leading private-sector employer. Furthermore, in order to expand its cotton business into Burkina Faso, IPS (WA) acquired the Ouagadougou plant from state-owned company Sofitex; at the time this plant was processing the output of some 30,000 Burkinabé cotton farmers. Faso Coton, a smaller sister company for Ivoire Coton, was created in 2004, developing a similar programme of social and technical support for cotton producers located across the twelve provinces of the country’s central region.

True to the challenge IPS (WA) set itself at the outset in 1965, this industrial organisation remains driven by a dual ambition: demonstrating that it is possible – indeed even profitable – to process raw materials in Africa, while at the same time creating jobs and improving the living standards of the local people attached to its various industrial centres. It is worth looking at some of the figures here. Ivoire Coton provides work for around 50,000 producers in northern Côte d’Ivoire, Faso Coton provides employment for 30,000 people and SN SOSUCO for 3,500. Together the various factories and companies within IPS (WA) directly employ nearly 4,500 people who enjoy social welfare support and educational funding for their children.

Every job created impacts a family – which means that some 600,000 people are feeling the benefit of IPS (WA)’s expansion in West Africa.

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Yet IPS (WA) aims to go further still. Industrial Promotion Services has not just helped to lay the foundations of industrial development in West Africa – it also wants to ensure that the projects it has initiated are sustainable over the long term. Ensuring their long-term viability depends on addressing persistent infrastructural constraints. Frequently there are delays in getting harvests to the processing units, and delays in getting the processed products to customers – while the factories suffer from inadequate energy availability. African governments are looking to forge partnerships with private investors to tackle the colossal investments required by the infrastructure sector. In the spirit of co-operation that has characterised IPS (WA) throughout its history – co-operation with governments, financial institutions and other funding agencies – the organisation is once again seizing this crucial moment to take action. IPS (WA) has been involved in the development of the Azito power station near Abidjan since 1997. Azito is becoming Côte d’Ivoire’s leading electricity supplier, with one of the most powerful and efficient thermal power plants in Africa. In 2000, IPS (WA) also acquired a shareholding in electricity supplier Énergie du Mali (EDM). Thus – reminiscent of the European Coal and Steel Community in Europe, the forerunner of today’s European Union – IPS (WA) is marking out the contours of Africa’s own energy community by financing through Energie du Mali an interconnection line of the Ivorian and Malian power networks. The spring of this year, 2015, saw the opening of Azito’s third turbine, powered exclusively by waste from the two other turbines – fulfilling another key objective for IPS (WA): sustainable development.

With 50 years of experience behind it now, IPS (WA) can look back over its past with pride. It has worked with jute, synthetic fibres, cotton, sugar, metal, energy and most recently cashew nuts – and all these ventures have succeeded. The figures speak volumes: in 2014, the group’s agribusiness division generated revenues of CFA Fr 97 billion, energy CFA Fr 143 billion and packaging CFA Fr 63 billion. That initial seed has now become a fully-grown tree – and a tree that is still sending forth new shoots: a host of new projects are currently in the pipeline at IPS (WA)’s offices in Abidjan. A production unit for cooking oil made from cottonseed is set to open its doors in northern Côte d’Ivoire in 2016. A new unit has been opened at the Filtisac plant, where production of plastic container packaging made of polyethylene, polypropylene, and even polyethylene terephthalate (PET) is steadily expanding. Dynamic growth at Fumoa in Dakar has been driven by boosting production of metal barrels for transporting oil. And from Dakar to Abidjan, from Bamako to Ouagadougou, the group’s injection moulding and blow moulding machines are producing millions of packs and stoppers for mass-market consumer products including beverages (© Coca-Cola), seasonings (© Maggi) and lubricants (© Total). Because Africa is changing: by 2030 urban areas will cover 60% of the continent and the number of Africans living in cities will be nearly 300 million. Africa’s middle class is growing and its needs are rapidly changing.

Women no longer have the time to pound rice or shell nuts: instead they are turning to prepackaged foods. A market need for fast-moving consumer goods is opening up: the next chapter in the story of IPS (WA) is all set to be written.

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His Highness Karim Aga Khan and President FĂŠlix HouphouĂŤt-Boigny visit the Filtisac factory and watch hessian being woven.

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If the Burkinabé sugar-cane cutters travel as far as 200 km to work on behalf of the SN SOSUCO and if the Ivorian fishermen can now eat their evening meal in the comfort of electric light, it is because there is a single source of inspiration breathing life into every development project.

But before that chapter opens let us step back for a moment: if the Burkinabé sugar-cane cutters travel as far as 200 km to work on behalf of SN SOSUCO and if the fishermen working off the Ivorian coast can now eat their evening meal in the comfort of electric light, it is because there is a single source of inspiration breathing life into every development project, one guiding vision behind all the individual activities of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN). For His Highness the Aga Khan, the patient and persevering architect of a private development network that is unique of its kind, development is like a three-legged stool. One of the legs is economic, one is social and the third is cultural. There can be no development for any country, no improvement in individual quality of life, if it is not based on all three legs simultaneously. “Development initiatives cannot be envisaged solely from an economic perspective,” wrote His Highness the Aga Khan in the magazine Politique Internationale. “They need to encompass variables such as education, skills development, healthcare and public services, the preservation of cultural heritage, infrastructure construction and even the development of regulatory legislation.”

Experience on the ground has proven the accuracy of this analysis. To take cotton as an example: higher revenues earned by cottongrowers in north-eastern Côte d’Ivoire improve the quality of life of every village-dweller on one condition – that these higher revenues translate into greater wealth for the whole community and not just for one of its members. To achieve this, Ivoire Coton ensures that a portion of its income is converted into drinking water access points, into health centres with a trained midwife to deliver babies, or into basic literacy training to help producers plan their business affairs more effectively.

His Highness Karim Aga Khan and the President of Côte d’Ivoire are given the grand tour of Filtisac. The production manager is introduced to the distinguished guests.

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Ivoire Coton is perhaps the most iconic of the successes achieved by IPS (WA), reflecting the subtle, effective and humanist development mission implemented by His Highness the Aga Khan via the Aga Khan Development Network. To pick up on the image of the three-legged stool again, in this case the AKDN is the stool and the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development (AKFED) – to which IPS (WA) belongs – is one of its legs. The stool’s other two legs are the Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC) and the various social development programmes – the Aga Khan Foundation (AKF), the Aga Khan Agency for Microfinance (AKAM), the Aga Khan University (AKU), Aga Khan Education Services (AKES), Aga Khan Health Services (AKHS) and Focus Humanitarian Assistance (FOCUS).

The production line at the Ivoiral factory. In 1988, IPS (WA) bought out four companies in West Africa belonging to the Pechiney group and specialising in processing aluminium.

They were Ivoiral in Côte d’Ivoire, CBTM in Burkina Faso, CSTM au Senegal and Nigéral in Niger.

Today AKFED comprises around 100 businesses, managing assets of nearly €3 billion and employing more than 47,000 people in 17 countries. Yet “AKFED is neither a charitable institution nor a means of personal enrichment for the leader of the Ismaili community,” explains His Highness the Aga Khan, condemning the ineffectiveness of charity that gives no thought to the future and the squandering of development aid funds by those entrusted with managing them, and emphasising the ethical principles behind the Aga Khan Development Network.

This ethical approach can be seen at work not just in the network’s day-to-day operations but going right to the heart of every single one of its activities. Two years ago, for example, IPS (WA) undertook a survey of its employees, entrusting them with defining the values they would like to see their company enshrine. Discussions were held within each individual business unit. The values proposed in each case were then fed back to the head office in Abidjan, where they were summarised in a single word: LEADER. L for leadership, E engagement, A for “amélioration permanente” – constant improvement, D for diversity, E for ethics and R for responsibility. The acronym in itself forms a word that conveys a message, guiding the businesses within IPS (WA) towards excellence.

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While never confining the scope of its initiatives to the Ismaili community alone, the AKDN bases its success on an attitude cultivated by this community: discretion.

Yet the excellence so often achieved by AKDN projects clearly derives, too, from a quality that is less immediately obvious: humility. Is this perhaps attributable to the very distinctive character both of the AKDN and of its founder? Before being a “leader” who develops projects or forges partnerships with public or private institutions, His Highness the Aga Khan is above all a spiritual leader. In this role he inspires his community and everyone he meets by his observance of an Islamic ethic that is tolerant, liberal and concerned with justice. While never confining the scope of its initiatives to the Ismaili community alone, the AKDN nonetheless bases its success on an attitude cultivated by this community: discretion. This spirit of service, honest and unassuming, reigns across all the spheres in which the AKDN operates and in all the countries where the network has a presence, from West Africa to Tajikistan, from Cairo to Aleppo.

Perhaps the other thing that makes the Aga Khan Development Network so utterly unique is its sheer size. Following in the tracks of a community of nearly 15 million people which has dispersed across some fifteen countries located between Africa and Asia, the network has established operations on several continents – Asia, Africa, Europe and even America. On each continent it has confronted new and different cultures, political landscapes and economic challenges. This unprecedented geographical coverage gives the development network access to a huge reservoir of experiences. The Kenyan bean growers who sell their crops to the company FRIGOKEN, for example – while diversifying the range of crops they grow, at the same time – share experiences in common with the cotton growers of Côte d’Ivoire, having learned how to cultivate and manage the produce of the land they live on more effectively.

Within the development network created by His Highness the Aga Khan, interdependence has a benign, positive impact. At a time when the world is reeling from new outbreaks of violence, sending shock waves from one end of the planet to the other, might it not be possible to imagine hope spreading, too – like a joyful fire – from one continent to the next?

With the breadth of vision gained from more than half a century working on behalf of the world’s poorest, most disadvantaged people, His Highness the Aga Khan dares to hope so: “We inhabit an overcrowded planet with shrinking resources, yet we share a common destiny,” he said recently, at a conference on leadership and diversity in Quebec. “A weakness or pain in one corner has the tendency, rather rapidly, to transmit itself across the globe. Instability is infectious! But so is hope!”

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Packaging

IPS (WA)’s main business activity: packaging natural resources

Packaging

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Packaging is the the core business activity of IPS (WA). The decision to focus on this sector, which is essential to any country’s development, was the result of a meeting between two people: Côte d’Ivoire president Félix Houphouët-Boigny was seeking new ways to develop his country, while His Highness the Aga Khan saw industry’s potential to drive progress in Africa. A packaging industry was badly needed in Africa’s newly independent countries. Many, including Côte d’Ivoire, were rich in natural resources, but they lacked the means of transporting their goods.

His Highness the Aga Khan already had experience in the jute industry in Bangladesh. He suggested importing jute fibre from Bangladesh to Côte d’Ivoire, where it could be processed into bags. In July 1965 production started at the first Filtisac packaging factory in Abidjan.

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Packaging

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A production line at Fasoplast’s packaging factory in Burkina Faso making synthetic fibre bags.

Its production line was highly efficient and Filtisac soon became the leading producer of natural-fibre packaging in French-speaking Africa, providing customers with solutions for transporting, storing and handling their products. The jute sacks were sturdy, breathable and perfect for transporting cacao beans, coffee cherries and cashew nuts. However, they were less suitable for finer products like rice, cement and grains. Filtisac saw this as an opportunity to build on its jute processing experience and diversify its activities. It opened a second division to manufacture sacks that were more flexible and hardy.

These were made from polypropylene, a synthetic material. The new division opened in 1988 and enjoyed rapid success with a regional market that extended as far as Central Africa.

Filtisac continued to expand and in 1994 it acquired three subsidiaries in Bouake – Fibako, Ivoirembal International and Sofitis – producing rope and twine as well as natural-fibre sacks. Building on their synergy, the three companies merged to form Groupe Fibako Ivoirembal (GFI). Alongside Filtisac, GFI grew remarkably fast and it supported its parent company in numerous investments. In 2013 the two companies finally merged. Filtisac invested in two more companies with a strong potential in 1995: Allpack and Sisep, which specialised in packaging sleeves, plastic bags and rigid packaging. In 2009 Filtisac merged with Sisep to combine their strengths and offer better support to the consumer product manufacturing industry.

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Now highly specialised in different packaging fields, IPS (WA) decided it was time to look beyond the borders of Côte d’Ivoire in the 90’s. Government policies to liberalise the economy meant that IPS (WA) was able to create Cofisac and acquire the Dakar company Fumoa in 1995. In the same year it acquired the newly privatised Fasoplast in Ouagadougou and in 1999 it founded Embamali in Bamako.

Filtisac drew on its expertise to develop the various business units while allowing each one to retain its own specialisations. Fumoa produces metal drums and rigid plastic packaging, including bottles, barrels and jerry cans. Fasoplast specialises in the rigid plastic sector, producing drinks containers, bottles, barrels and jerry cans. Embalmali produces polypropylene bags.

At its headquarters, the Filtisac parent company is developing its expertise in rigid packaging. As well as producing bottles, barrels and jerry cans, the company has invested in PET processing and produces containers for drinks, food products and cosmetics. A new division was set up in 2014 to manufacture the next-generation bottle tops, with the capacity to produce one million units per day.

Due to its twin strategies of technological innovation and expansion in the regional market, Filtisac is now considered one of the jewels in Côte d’Ivoire’s industrial crown. It survived the destruction of its factory and offices during the Ivorian Crisis in 2011 to remain the leader in Western Africa’s packaging industry.

Packaging

As well as being an undeniable economic success, Filtisac drives development in the region by creating jobs and contributing to improve living standards for everyone.

Its three divisions employ more than 1,500 people. In the Abobo municipality, where the manufacturing plant is located, every family is connected to the factory in some way; if not directly, then through a family member who works or has worked for the factory. IPS provides medical insurance to every one of these families through its mutual insurance system, MUTIPS. Equally funded by the company and its employees, MUTIPS gives the families access to a wide range of quality medical care.

For parents employed in the factory, Filtisac also offers an advance on their children’s school fees.

Similar benefits are offered to employees in the packaging companies in Burkina Faso, Senegal and Mali, within the provisions of local legislation. Known as “SOLIPS” (Solidarité IPS), the fund exists in every IPS (WA) company. With equal financing from the companies and their employees, workers and their families are able to benefit from medical screening and proper management of serious diseases such as AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis. SOLIPS also offers considerable support to employees forced to stop working through disability.

Each factory has its own characteristics, but they are all working towards the same goal: developing activities that have a significant impact on economic and human development.

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The Fasoplast workshops of jute fibre bags was IPS’s very first industrial project. Constant diversification and adaptation to changing demands have made Abidjan-based Filtisac one of the jewels of Côte d’Ivoire‘s industrial sector.

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The process: from the jute plant to packaging Jute fibre comes from a herbaceous plant cultivated in the tropical regions. The jute fibre processed at the Filtisac factory comes from Bangladesh in the form of bundles of pressed bales.

These bundles are soaked in water, oil and emulsifiers on a spreader prior to being stored in rolls under hessian sheeting for 48 hours. This process is called softening. The jute is then carded: it is actually combed like hair to rid it of impurities such as bark, roots and soil. Carding is a two-stage process designed to refine, homogenise and separate the jute fibre, gradually transforming it into ribbons.

Packaging

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The jute is carded, stretched into ribbons strips and then twisted to make yarn, which is wound onto 5-kg cone-shaped spools. The next stage is warping, whereby the yarn from several spools is wound onto a series of beams or larger spools in preparation for the next step, weaving.

Next comes the drawing and spinning stages where the ribbons are put through successive parallel drawing operations and spun to make yarn. The following stage is called winding. This involves several steps: first the yarn is cleaned and then it is wound onto five-kilo coneshaped spools. The next stage is called warping whereby the yarn from several spools is wound onto a series of beams or larger spools in preparation for the next step, weaving.

Jute weaving can be done on two types of loom: Dornier and MLS. The more modern Dornier-type “shuttleless” loom method is preferred nowadays because it results in a lighter and stronger cloth, ideal for sacks for products such as cacao.

After weaving, the hessian is unrolled, cut and machinesewn into sacks. The very last stage is the marking, when the customer’s name and the contents of the sack are printed on the sacks.

Jute sacks are strong, durable and ventilated, making them ideal for transporting cocoa beans, coffee cherries and cashew nuts, all of which grow in Côte d’Ivoire.

The Filtisac plant produces around 75,000 sacks per day.

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The woven fabric is cut and machine-sewn into sacks for cocoa beans, cashew nuts and coffee cherries.

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The final stage is labelling the jute sacks showing the name of the recipient and contents.

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Nathan Thio, a lifetime in jute

Nathan Thio knows all the tricks of his trade by heart. Sitting in the Filtisac yard under an awning shielding him from the sun, he gazes at the factory with an expert eye. For years he has worked at Filtisac, the very first IPS (WA) project, and has at his fingertips the many stages involved in transforming jute into packaging sacks. Looking back over the way the job has changed, he sometimes becomes nostalgic. It is as though something of his own life has been woven into the jute bags. But the hours Nathan has spent at the factory have not been in vain. They have given him a steady job, the joys of comradeship and the hope of a better life for his five children.

As is the practice with most IPS (WA) companies, Filtisac makes social welfare contributions on behalf of its staff and their families and each year pays them an advance on salary to help cover the cost of their children’s education. As a result, Nathan is a happy man, even though the heat, the smell and the sounds of the machinery make for gruelling work.

Surrounded by his workmates, Nathan recalls the dark days of the civil war when all Abidjan lay silently waiting. He recounts the memory with pride. Filtisac only closed its doors for a very short time. Work teams even braved danger to keep production of jute sacks moving. For Nathan it is all down to one thing – the commitment of everyone, workers and bosses alike, to ensure that operations continued at all costs. Thinking back to those years, he feels he played his part, even though the factory now carries on as though nothing had happened. Even so, Nathan also shares with his colleagues the pride of belonging to the factory that spearheaded the activities of IPS (WA). Admittedly, processing jute is a tough job and Nathan would have liked his wages to increase faster. But, as he says, he “takes off his hat” to His Highness, whom he describes as “a great boss”.

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From jute to synthetic materials

Alongside the jute processing facility is a plant manufacturing synthetic fibre sacks, used for transporting cement, fertiliser, rice, cotton and various cereals.

These bags are made from woven polypropylene (PP) or sometimes polyethylene (PE) in granular form. The granules are poured into an extrusion machine to be mixed with recycled materials, dye and an antiUV additive. Once the PP is in liquid state, it moves onto the extrusion stage where it is drawn onto rollers to turn it into narrow strips. These strips are wound onto interlinked bobbins and then woven. The circular loom produces a tubular cloth with a fine, dense weave. This can be laminated to add a waterproof layer or left as it is. The cloth is then made into bags, either by hand or machine. Like the jute sacks, the final step is marking with the customer’s name and the contents.

Packaging

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At Filtisac and in the other IPS (WA) packaging plants, the synthetic yarns are wound onto a series of beams before being woven on circular looms.

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Packaging

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Alongside the jute processing facility is a plant manufacturing synthetic fibre sacks used for transporting cement, fertiliser, rice, cotton and various cereals.

Synthetic fibre sacks are used to package cotton bales, fertiliser, animal feed, salt and flour. The plant also produces sheeting and tarpaulins for the company’s own needs. Finally, there are big bags, made from either 100% polypropylene or a mixture of jute and PP. These can hold between 500 kilos and 1.5 tonnes and are very useful for bulk transportation of our customer’s products.

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Narrow strips of polypropylene (PP) are wound on to interlinked bobbins and then woven, producing a fine, dense weave.

Packaging

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The final step in the production of synthetic fibre sacks is marking them with the customer’s name and the contents.

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Adélaïde and Kadiatou, needle in hand

Adélaïde Kafando and Kadiatou Diawara have worked side-by-side for four years.

Adélaïde has been at Fasoplast eleven years and Kadiatou joined her some four years ago. They are employed in the sewing department at the Fasoplast packaging factory in Ouagadougou and enjoy each other’s company during their working day. In the morning they cycle to work, like most Fasoplast employees. They start at 7 a.m. and hand in their finished work at 3 p.m. In teams of three, the women sew Faso Boro sacks, one of Fasoplast’s special lines. These are the largest sacks produced at the factory. It is aimed at packing the agricultural crops and is most commonly used to package cereals. Made of synthetic fibre, the size of the sack makes it a bit of an oddity. It has to be sewn by machine and fitted with straps for lifting.

Adélaïde and Kadiatou both have families. Adélaïde has four children and her friend has two. Both their husbands are lucky enough to have steady jobs but, even so, their own earnings are essential to cover their families’ outgoings. The women’s families benefit from the welfare contributions and reimbursement of the cost of medicines that Fasoplast offers its workforce. The firm also pays wages in advance to enable workers to pay their children’s school fees. Although they spend their days stitching sacks, the two friends enjoy their work, which combines concentration with comradeship. Naturally, they hope to move higher up the salary scale to increase their earnings, but both say they are happy to have found regular and, in their own words, “guaranteed” work. Best of all, they can always spare a moment for a few good laughs.

Packaging

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From synthetic fibres to plastics and consumer product packaging Alongside the synthetic fibre bag plant is the third facility which is expanding rapidly: this is the hollow-core, rigid packaging unit.

Rigid packaging is generally made from polyethylene or polypropylene.

There is no weaving or carding involved and everything is done on a single machine.

In Côte d’Ivoire, this third sector has recently acquired the latestgeneration one-step system which produces PET and bottles by injection blow moulding. This facility consists of a series of workshops: the preform workshop making the preforms needed to make polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles; the blowing workshop where the machines make bottles by blowing molten polymer into a mould using compressed air and then ejecting them after cooling; the injection moulding workshop where the machines make packaging items such as bottle caps by injecting the material into a mould, from which they are again ejected when cool.

Packaging

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It also has a production line turning out almost 300 million caps a year, with a compression system unique in Côte d’Ivoire.

At Fasoplast in Burkina Faso, one of the plant’s flagship products is an injection-moulded crate for Brakina beer.

Although there is no jute processing facility here, there is a production line making synthetic fibre sacks.

The Embalmali plant in Mali produces mainly polypropylene bags.

The Cofisac/Fumoa packaging factory in Senegal has a high-performance blow moulding line which makes 1 to 20-litre HDPE bottles. The PET preforms are also blown into bottles for still and carbonated beverages.

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The factory is developing its core business of metal drum manufacturing. The sheet metal is unwound from the coil and cut in staggered rows to minimise waste. The metal is then pressed and passed through a bender which forms it into a cylinder prior to welding.

It then passes through the flanging machine which forms the lip to hold the bottom and top pieces in place.

After passing through the stiffener, the three parts are seamed together. The drum is tested for water-tightness then painted, dried and marked. These metal drums, Fumoa’s flagship product, are destined for petroleum and edible oil producers.

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At Fasoplast in Burkina Faso, the emphasis is on rigid packaging.

One of the plant’s flagship products is an injection-moulded crate for Brakina beer.

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The Cofisac/Fumoa packaging factory in Senegal has a high-performance blow moulding line which makes 1 to 20-litre HDPE bottles.

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PET performs are also blown into bottles for carbonated soft drinks and mineral water.

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Cofisac/Fumoa’s Senegal factory is developing its core business of metal drum manufacturing. The sheet metal is unwound from the coil and cut in staggered rows to minimise waste.

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The metal is then pressed and passed through a bender which forms it into a cylinder prior to welding. It then passes through the flanging machine which forms the lip to hold the bottom and top pieces.

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Ahmadou Cissé, the timesaver

Ahmadou Cissé is responsible for the maintenance and productivity of the machinery which injects or blow-moulds high-density polyethylene at the Fumoa factory in Dakar. Or to put it more simply, Ahmadou ensures the smooth running of machines making plastic bottles and jerry cans. He joined the company in March 1997 with a degree in electromechanical engineering.

He began by training as a moulding technician, before first taking charge of components and then moving on to look after the maintenance of moulds and accessories. His job puts him at the cutting edge of Fumoa’s rationalisation programme. Relying on his own calculations and observations, Ahmadou is also responsible for finding ways of reducing the time it takes to replace defective components. He also has to decide how work should be divided between workers so that no task is duplicated and no one is left standing around with nothing to do.

Ahmadou has succeeded in reducing by half, or even a third, the average time required to change a component. Given that a one-litre bottle is produced every 14 seconds, it is easy enough to see how the time saved speeds up the factory’s productivity. In Ahmadou, the factory has found an exceptional talent. He earned a particularly large bonus when he replaced a double extrusion head with a single one. However, what Ahmadou likes most about his job is rising to technological challenges. He finds special pleasure in taking apart machines that others have consigned to the scrapheap and getting them working again. He likes nothing better than to spend hours leaning over machinery dismissed as obsolete and finding the part that will get it back in working order. Ahmadou also has a more personal connection with the factory. It was there, one year after joining the company, that he met his wife, who manages Fumoa’s retail shop.

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Agribusiness

Ivoire Coton and Faso Coton: from field to factory creating jobs for nearly 80,000 people

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Following the Ivorian government’s decision to deregulate the agribusiness sector, IPS (WA) entered the cotton market. In 1998, IPS (WA) and Paul Reinhart AG, a Swiss company, acquired three ginning factories and their agricultural assets in the north-west of the country, a region dominated by cotton cultivation. Ivoire Coton was born on 13 August the same year. The new company’s operations hinged around three factories: two in the town of Boundiali and one in the small town of Dianra.

Nearly ten years later, Ivoire Coton has extended its activities to other regions in the north of the country. In 2008, following the liquidation of LCCI SA, Ivoire Coton acquired the ginning factory and agricultural assets in M’Bengué and set up M’Bengué Coton, which merged with Ivoire Coton on 22 June 2012.

Now, Ivoire Coton’s producers cultivate more than 150,000 hectares in the north-west of the country – a region that shares borders with Guinea, Burkina Faso and Mali. More than 50,000 cotton growers deliver their harvest to the Ivoire Coton factories, which employ nearly a thousand people.

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Through Ivoire Coton and its operations, IPS (WA) fully applies AKFED’s development ethos. Ivoire Coton consistently pursues a dual aim: improving the quality of life of rural communities so that they can break the vicious circle of under-development, and increasing the performance of the production chain so that Ivoire Coton can become a major player in the West African cotton industry.

Driven by this dual purpose, Ivoire Coton continued its activities during the crisis years of 2000–2011.

Without the perseverance of the Ivoire Coton workers at all levels, and the tenacity of the 50,000 cotton growers who carried on cultivating their land despite the insecurity, cotton would probably have been erased from Côte d’Ivoire’s economic landscape.

The development model perfected by Ivoire Coton responds to a unique challenge facing the cotton sector: finding a way of building loyalty among independent producers who have a choice not only between six operators, but between cotton and other agricultural ventures. To meet this challenge, Ivoire Coton has put in place a flexible support system capable of covering its entire area of operations. Using this system, the company provides all its producers with agricultural inputs and materials, delivering them even to remote villages. Each year it delivers more than 6,000 oxen to the cotton growers, which are then monitored by experts in animal health. The supply of agricultural inputs and materials is based on a system of loans (monetary and in kind) to the producers and their groups. In turn, the company makes sure it pays its producers and their groups quickly once they have delivered the cotton to the factory, and encourages sustainable soil management.

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Finally, an ingenious system of bonuses rewards the best producers, collectively or individually, and creates a healthy spirit of emulation.

In line with the ethic developed within the AKFED companies, Ivoire Coton is concerned with more than productivity. It sees improving the quality of life of the local population as a challenge to be met at a social and cultural level, as well as in economic terms. Ivoire Coton and its partners, including German development agency DEG, have built three medical centres and opened 188 health clinics in the villages furthest from the medical centres to provide first aid to the villagers.

Ivoire Coton helped build the clinics, trained 376 village health workers and 35 matrons and equipped the clinics with the necessary basic medicines. The company has developed a health awareness campaign for serious conditions like HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis. In order to improve sanitary conditions in the villages, it has restored 883 hydraulic pumps and sunk 56 new wells.

However, Ivoire Coton also knows that, without education, the local people will remain unreceptive to the advice on good farming and management practices provided by the agricultural advisers. The company has therefore set up a functional literacy programme, which has enabled more than 6000 producers, both men and women, to learn to read, write and calculate in Dioula, the local language. Recently, Ivoire Coton has also refurbished fourteen primary schools, benefiting 2,324 children (1,219 boys and 1,105 girls). It has also paid particular attention to women’s education and needs, which are essential for improving their living standards – through market gardening and commerce projects.

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On market day, the cotton farmers of the village of Ndara in the Boundiali region bring the cotton out of the huts where it has been stored. They compress and secure it before covering it with tarpaulins.

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The seeds are stored until an oil production plant or another user has a need for them.

While Ivoire Coton was enjoying its success, IPS (WA) turned its attention to other markets in West Africa.

Taking advantage of the privatisation of Burkina Faso’s cotton sector, IPS (WA) acquired the ginning factory and associated agricultural assets in the central region of the country and established Faso Coton in 2004. The company works with around 30,000 producers. Faso Coton very quickly followed the development model of Ivoire Coton.

However, the big concern of cotton growers in Burkina Faso is the low yield per hectare because of poor soil fertility levels. Faced with poor harvests in Burkina Faso, Faso Coton is training its producers in conservation agriculture techniques designed to improve soil fertility.

Bales of cotton from the Faso Coton factory in Burkina Faso are packed up and ready to be exported. Faso Coton produces an average of 350 bales per day.

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The process: from plant to fibre

The cotton fibre production process begins in the fields. After the soil has been prepared, sowing starts in May and finishes midJuly. The earlier the seeds are sown, the better the harvest. Cotton farmers can source seeds directly from the best cotton growers or via the seed merchants. After this crucial stage, thinning begins: surplus and weak plants are weeded out. This gives a density (between 60,000 and 80,000 plants per hectare) that promotes good growth and healthy plant development.

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The soil is then enhanced with mineral fertilisers.

To prevent soil depletion and to foster a sustainable approach in cotton farming, Ivoire Coton encourages the use of the fallow system and organic fertilisers. Once the fields have been treated, insecticide must be applied regularly to protect the plants against their many pests.

The graded raw cotton then begins its journey to the factory. It is sucked up into telescopic arms placed over the raw cotton load and taken to the factory where it will be ginned. Ginning is the process used to separate the cotton fibre from the seed. From now on, the seeds and the cotton fibre follow separate routes.

One hundred and twenty days of hard work and patience are rewarded when the bolls containing the raw cotton reach maturity and open up. The cotton harvest can then begin. This takes place from November to late January.

The seeds are stored until an oil production plant or other seed user has a need for them.

Once the raw cotton is harvested, it is stored inside or on racks away from the village, protected from dust and moisture. The farmers then wait for market day.

This collection day is set by mutual agreement between the factory and the farmers. The cotton is stacked into 100−150 kg bales then carefully weighed. The output from each cotton grower is assigned a specific batch number. At the factory, the raw cotton is first graded according to quality: Grade 1 if the cotton is white, clean and dry and grade 2 if not. This is crucial for the local farmers as it is when they learn the unit sale price set for their cotton.

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Following the removal of any impurities, the fibre will be humidified, compacted and formed into 230 kg bales ready for export.

The two factories in Boundiali produce 1,200 bales per day, while the site in Dianra produces 600 and the one in M’Bengue 800. Faso Coton averages 350 bales per day.

In the 2014−2015 season, volumes are set to increase yet again. The management at Ivoire Coton is expecting to produce 175,000 tonnes of raw cotton while Faso Coton is forecasting a volume of around 50,000 tonnes.

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The Boundiali factory is one of three Ivoire Coton units where cotton seed is turned into fibre, cleaned and then packed in bales. The factory produces 1,200 bales a day.

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The graded raw cotton then begins its journey to the factory. It is sucked up into telescopic arms placed over the raw cotton load and taken to the factory where it will be ginned.

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The ginning process can be tracked by a computerised control panel.

Because the gin separates cotton fibre from raw cotton, ginning plays a crucial role in transforming seeds into fibres.

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The cotton gin, which separates fibres from seeds, demands constant supervision and has to be adjusted manually. Then, the seeds and fibres go their separate ways for the next stages in the transformation process.

The cleaned and dampened fibre is packed tightly into bales with an average weight of 230 kilos.

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The external packaging of the bales is marked with their batch number and the name of the recipient. Finally, each package is stamped by hand.

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Faso Coton’s Burkina Faso factory turns out an average of 350 bales each day. Most of them are bound for the port of LomÊ, capital of Togo.

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Zonagoun Ziao, a keen cotton farmer

Zonagoun Ziao is a cotton farmer from the village of Gnangnon. With her smiling face and unassuming manner, she is one of the female farmers beating productivity records for the region of Boundiali, in northern Côte d’Ivoire. This year Zonagoun has achieved excellent results, producing 5.9 tonnes of raw cotton with an annual gross value of 1,496,250 CFA francs or 2,280 euros from only three hectares. Although she has to deduct 541 euros to pay back her seasonal loan, she still has a net annual income of 1,739 euros – a tidy sum for a farmer. Zonagoun is known for miles around for her hard work and her success. Her yield of 1,995 kilos of cotton per hectare is well above the average of 1,200 kilos per hectare. Her output will earn her a bonus.

She will be presented with her reward at a special event held in honour of the region’s most productive growers.

Nevertheless, Zonagoun receives little practical help. She lost her husband three years ago, and of her five children she can only rely on her eldest son to help her work the land.

Admittedly, she has inherited a house built of bricks and mortar a short distance away from the village and is fortunate enough to own three oxen. But she alone must fund her three younger children’s school fees. At the same time, like most of the village’s cotton farmers she has to take out a small loan from Ivoire Coton to buy the insecticides and pesticides recommended by the company’s agricultural advisors. So what is the secret of Zonagoun Ziao’s success? The answer is her passion for her work and her strict adherence to her advisor’s technical recommendations.

However, this young woman is too modest to admit to possessing these qualities. But one thing is certain. Her income has enabled her to plan building a new house. The materials she has ordered are already stacked up in her backyard.

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Gongolo Coulibaly, master of forty hectares

Gongolo Coulibaly is the chief of the village of Gongolovego. Aged sixty, he owns Bengue, a region in the north of Côte d’Ivoire. All the villagers in Gongolovego come from the same family − brothers, cousins, sons-in-law, daughters-in-law, aunts, uncles and children. The family is so extensive that Gongolo can hardly say how many children there are, but the youngest members play happily around their mothers’ feet. The village is surrounded by a large expanse of semi-arid savannah, interspersed with little cultivated plots and cotton fields. For this remote community, Ivoire Coton is a vital link to the outside world. It was Ivoire Coton that provided them with agricultural equipment, and it is Ivoire Coton that will Bengue.

In February, Gongolevo’s harvest is still under tarpaulins. It will remain in storage until market day, when Ivoire Coton will come to collect it and transport it to the factory. The date of the market is decided by Ivoire Coton and the villagers together. When the day arrives, the men of the village bring the cotton out of storage so that it can be compacted by foot and then weighed.

In the evening, the cotton is brought to the factory where it is weighed again and categorised as Grade 1 or 2. Market day is one of the most important dates in the village’s calendar. This is when the villagers find out how much their year’s work has earned them, individually and as a community. They are paid just a fortnight after the cotton arrives at the factory. Prompt payment is extremely important as it means they can enjoy the fruits of their labour while the soil is resting, before the start of the next cultivation season.

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Fofana, the midwife of Kantara

Fofana Meta is the matrone or midwife of Kantara village − a role that she assumed voluntarily ten years ago. There was no particular reason why she took on this responsibility, except that she has always been conscientious and a good student. When Ivoire Coton suggested building a health centre in Kantara, the village elders quickly turned to Fofana. Sponsored by Ivoire Coton, she went to Boundiali for a week of training and after that she continued her studies in midwifery.

Her knowledge was unique in the village. Yet, when she returned home and set up her practice in the health centre, no one came to her. For months, the village’s many pregnant women preferred to travel fifteen kilometres by bicycle to the maternity hospital in Boundiali, patently ignoring Fofana and her new skills.

But the young woman was determined not to give up, and it wasn’t long before her persistence was rewarded. One day, a brother from a neighbouring village sent his wife to the Kantara health centre to give birth. The newly qualified midwife laid the woman down on a fresh, clean bed, checked the baby’s heartbeat with a stethoscope and delivered her first child. He was perfectly healthy, and he and his mother went home after the birth. Since that day ten years ago, Fofana’s health centre has never been empty. Ivoire Coton subsidised training for a nurse and, with his help, Fofana assists at a delivery almost every week. There can be up to fifty births a year in this village of a thousand inhabitants, but Fofana’s duties don’t end there. She also takes care of injuries, diagnoses common diseases and prescribes standard medication.

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Lassina Konate, factory manager

Lassina Konate has been in the cotton industry since 1980. His whole life has revolved around the process of transforming cotton seed into cotton fibre. He joined Sofitex, the forerunner of Faso Coton, as a qualified mechanical engineering technician and began his career in the company’s machinery division at its Bobo Dioulasso factory. In those days, Burkina Faso had few factories, and machines had not yet reached today’s level of sophistication. But from the beginning Lassina loved to hear the sound of complex machinery at work and to watch the precise and silent movements of the men who inhabited the factory world.

In 1996, Lassina, with his wife and two children, was transferred to Ouagadougou, capital of Burkina Faso when he was promoted to factory manager at Sofitex.

From this unique vantage point, he was able to observe all the upheavals happening within the sector. He clearly remembers the improvement in the quality of cotton grown in Burkina Faso, as well as the day when Sofitex became Faso Coton. He also recalls the arrival at the factory of the Humidaire, the machine that humidified cotton fibre, and the installation of the new generation of cotton bale press machines which accelerated the pace of production.

Since IPS took over the management of Faso Coton, the machines that turn cotton seed into cotton fibre do not need Lassina Konate’s urgent and expert attention quite so often. One year from retirement, the man who learnt to detect the sound of a mechanical failure, even in his sleep, is beginning to enjoy more peaceful nights.

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SN SOSUCO: the biggest private employer in Burkina Faso

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“SN SOSUCO is as important to Burkina Faso’s economy as a port,” says the man in charge of machine work, as he surveys hundreds of hectares of cut sugar cane at the end of the harvest season. In this landlocked country with no significant natural resources, the jobs created by the sugar factory attract people from all over Burkina Faso. Women and men, farmers and manual workers, town-dwellers and villagers flock to the gates of Société Nouvelle – Société Sucrière de la Comoé (SN SOSUCO).

SN SOSUCO can trace its history back to the early years of independence, when Burkina Faso was still called Upper Volta. It was established in 1968 as a state-owned company at Banfora, in the southwest of the country, under the name Société de Sucre de la Haute-Volta (So.Su.HV), and was renamed Société Sucrière de la Comoé (SO SU CO) a few years later. After thirty years, the company was privatised. IPS (WA) took control in 1998, working alongside the national government and local private investors. SO SU CO became SN SOSUCO. Based in a sugar-growing area of around 10,000 hectares, the sugar cane fields of SN SOSUCO cover nearly 4,000 hectares in the south-west of the country.

Between November and April, more than 3,000 people cut and transport the sugar canes to the factory, which runs 24 hours a day throughout the harvest season. Today, SN SOSUCO is the biggest private employer in Burkina Faso.

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To top up on annual rainfall, sugar cane is irrigated by centre pivot and lateral irrigation systems.

Mindful of the company’s corporate social responsibility as well as its commercial development, IPS (WA) is striving to bring a new lease of life to this sector, which is an essential pillar of the national economy. One of the challenges facing SN SOSUCO is how to develop in a highly competitive environment. It needs to streamline its operations without abandoning its social projects – a balance that is not always easy to achieve. The company has repaired wells in the villages, where clean drinking water is now becoming the norm, and it runs literacy classes for the workers. A medical centre with several wards and a laboratory has been opened to meet the medical needs of the workforce. As well as providing medical treatment to SN SOSUCO employees, the centre also serves their families and the local communities.

This means that nearly 20,000 people in this remote region with a high rate of malaria now have access to good healthcare. An ambulance and four emergency mopeds cover the SN SOSUCO site in case of accidents at work. Like other IPS (WA) companies, SN SOSUCO subsidises a large proportion of its employees’ medical expenses. SN SOSUCO is also looking to the future and has entered into a partnership with the University of Ouagadougou to train and recruit young people.

Conscious of the importance of SN SOSUCO for the Banfora area and Comoé Province, IPS (WA) has continued to make considerable investments to support the company’s growth. In a region where income opportunities are rare, SN SOSUCO is essential for the survival and employment of the local population.

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The process: from sugar cane to sugar cube Sugar cane’s growth cycle lasts 12 months, from sprouting to harvest. The crop is harvested just once a year between November and April. The land is mechanically ploughed ready for pieces of sugar cane stems to be planted in the furrows. They are then covered over with soil.

These sugar cane stems sprout very quickly. The crop is irrigated by centre pivot and lateral irrigation systems to top up annual rainfall. With this regular watering plus a controlled use of herbicides and inputs, the sugar canes soon take on a fresh green colour. The water system is gravity-fed from the ComoĂŠ, Toussiana and Lobi dams, and from surrounding lakes.

Once the sugar canes have matured and the sugar content deemed sufficient, harvesting can begin. Each day, a plot of between 25 to 40 hectares is selected – a volume providing the factory with a usable amount of canes for processing. After stopping for 15 days irrigation, the plot is burned to remove leaves and other biomass. The day after burning, hand-harvesting begins under the watchful gaze of the field supervisor.

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Once they have been harvested, the canes are transported by trailers to the sugar cane yard, a large area in front of the factory. Right in the centre of the yard is the computer operator’s station: here the processing of the canes is monitored and the factory throughput is set. Throughout their journey to the factory, the sugar canes are rinsed and then shredded by three machines, one after the other. These are the saw, rough cutter and finisher; each stage reduces the sugar cane to smaller pieces.

to capture any lingering impurities. At this stage, the juice runs clear then it is re-heated, to evaporate off any water. This process is carried out in a series of four machines, producing a concentrated juice: pure syrup.

The chopped canes are then ready for juice extraction in a process called “milling”, carried out by a series of six machines. Having passed through the six mills, the fibrous cane residue remains. This is known as bagasse.

This will be used as fuel, making the site self-sufficient in its energy consumption.

The granulated sugar cane crystals continue their journey to the finishing area. Here they are either put into 50 kg bags of granulated sugar, or shaped into cubes (agglomeration) and packaged in 1 kg boxes. A lid fitter finishes off the packaging process. This machine puts the cardboard lid on the 1 kg box of sugar cubes, signifying it is ready for consumption.

Meanwhile, the extracted juice is recovered and is ready to be turned into sugar. The various stages to do this are complex and carefully designed. Any impurities are removed from the juice by heating it and mixing it with some slaked lime, after which it is channelled into two large settling tanks, where a flocculant is injected

Agribusiness

At this point, the final stage of the complex process begins: crystallisation. The heated syrup forms crystals, which increase in size during three cycles of crystallisation. The syrup remaining after these three cycles is called molasses. It can be used to make alcohol.

The SN SOSUCO factory has a processing capacity of nearly 350,000 tonnes of sugar cane per year, giving some 35,000 tonnes of granulated sugar. The sugar produced at SN SOSUCO is primarily destined for domestic consumption in Burkina Faso.

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After burning-off, the cane is cut.

Women share the work of clearing the fields with the help of mechanical diggers and tractors.

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Sitting in front of his control panel, the computer operator sets the pace of the whole factory. With the aid of a highly effective sound system he signals the moment when the crane must grab another load of cane to be processed.

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The SN SOSUCO factory operates 24 hours a day. From his vantage point, the computer operator ensures a constant supply of sugar cane. It takes several hours to process cane into sugar lumps.

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The SN SOSUCO factory has a processing capacity of nearly 350 000 tonnes of sugar per year, giving some 35 000 tonnes of granulated sugar.

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Crystallisation is a key stage in processing cane into sugar lumps.

Cane syrup is heated and reheated several times, forming crystals known as massecuite.

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The crystals are visible under the microscope. They form during the various stages of heating the syrup and the massecuite. The massecuite remaining after crystallisation is called molasses.

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Part of the sugar is packed in granulated form in a 50-kg sack and mainly used for domestic consumption in Burkina Faso. The rest is moulded into cubes then packed in 1-kg boxes.

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Lump sugar is packed into 1kg boxes.

The final part of the process is carried by a machine charmingly named “la coiffeuse” – the hair stylist – , which places the cardboard lid on the box, brand name “Gazelle”.

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Sibiri Diao, from village to factory

Just 500 metres away from the little village of Nyankadougou in Burkina Faso stands a factory that grinds and processes sugar cane 24 hours a day. The village chief, Sibiri Diao, has descended from the elders who in the late 1960s surrendered their land to the state-run company, the forerunner of the present Nouvelle Société Sucrière de la Comoé (SN SOSUCO). Management representatives from SO.SU.HV, the state-run organisation, came to see the then village chief to seek his permission to build a factory on land owned by the village. The chief agreed to allow the land of his ancestors to be taken over by people willing to develop a new industrial activity, on condition that the company would employ local young people. The newcomers gave their word that the factory offered a promising future for the village children. So a deal was struck between two different worlds which suddenly became neighbours and interdependent on each other.

Nearly fifty years later, the village has learned to live alongside the factory, with the comings and goings of lorries loaded to the brim with sugar cane, and ceaseless, round-theclock production. Some villagers are now employed full-time, others seasonally or by the day, the men cutting cane, the women in the fields. The chief himself works in the irrigation section.

To maintain the harmonious relationship that exists between factory and village, the chief feels it is his special duty to make sacrifices to his ancestors so that their land continues to bear fruit.

Every year, before work begins at the factory, he performs a traditional ritual. He kills a number of chickens to invoke the blessing of his ancestors who gave the land to the factory and to honour the decision they made many years before.

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Séraphin Dembélé, master of the harvest

Séraphin Dembélé, second-in-command of the sugar-cane growing section, is responsible for all the firm’s farming activities. His wrestler’s physique gives him a kind of charisma that seems to reflect the scale of his task. During the sugar cane harvest, which is at its peak between November and April, he is in charge of hundreds of day labourers. At that time of the year, he is up before dawn and does not return home until nightfall. When the cane cutters descend from the lorry that picks them up in the early hours from neighbouring towns and villages, Séraphin is already at work, his feet planted firmly on the edge of the field where they will be cutting that day. To avoid the accidents that can happen when cutters work in a line, he divides them into “squares”. His eagle eye observes how far each worker progresses. The best cutters may well be ready to start work on a second square. Around noon, when the heat of the sun sends beads of sweat trickling down their faces, the men have usually finished cutting 20 or 30 hectares of cane for delivery to the factory.

But it is in the evening that Séraphin is faced with the most demanding part of the job.

That is when the plot of land to which the cutters will move the next day has to be burned-off. It is also where he displays the expertise he has acquired over the years. This dangerous operation, carried out when the temperature falls, consists of burning the foliage while also softening the cane. A handful of experienced workers set the crops ablaze along the length of the plot. The leaves can suddenly ignite like a torch and the workers’ skill lies in their ability to spread the flames without allowing them to go out of control. They are accompanied by a lorry-load of firefighters, who at the same time sprinkle water on the adjoining fields. For several hours, smoke and flames blot out the horizon and the fields sink into silence. The time has come for Séraphin to head homewards and rest until first light.

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Cashew nuts: the driving force behind a new industry?

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Cajou des Savanes, more commonly known as CASA, is the most recent agribusiness to be launched by IPS (WA). It started with a simple observation: the nuts of the cashew tree, which was imported to Côte d’Ivoire at the end of the 1950s to combat deforestation, are increasingly valuable on the global market. Until now, however, cashew cultivation and processing in Côte d’Ivoire has trailed far behind the national growth potential. If it developed its cashew cultivation, the country could quickly become one of the world’s top producer of unprocessed nuts.

The forecasts for 2015 are encouraging: Côte d’Ivoire is set to produce 580,000 tonnes of unprocessed nuts, or a quarter of the total volume produced worldwide.

However, interest in this bushy tree with multiple uses is not limited to exporting cashew nuts in their shells: by processing them to obtain the nut kernels, Côte d’Ivoire could turn the cashew into a new economic driver. Today, only 5% of the nuts harvested in Côte d’Ivoire are processed there. The remaining 95% are exported in their shells to Asia – mostly to India, which is the world’s leading cashew nut processor. When IPS (WA) launched the CASA project in Bouaké, a town in central Côte d’Ivoire, in June 2014, it was once again following the tenet at the heart of AKFED’s philosophy: acting as a catalyst to develop a new industrial sector.

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CASA’s first year was very promising: in just one year, the business succeeded in training nearly 800 workers – primarily women – and processed 2,000 tonnes of nuts. For 2015, the new management team has set itself an even bigger challenge: processing 7,500 tonnes of nuts and developing an annual capacity of 10,000 tonnes. To achieve the recognition it needs to market the cashew nut on a large scale, CASA has obtained certification from the African Cashew Alliance (ACA) – becoming the first Ivorian business to do so.

In keeping with the spirit of the IPS (WA) group, profitability is not the sole aim of the CASA agribusiness project. Its social impact is also an essential aspect.

Processing cashew nuts to extract the kernels involves labour-intensive work, which is usually carried out by women. CASA will train nearly 200 new workers in 2015, increasing its workforce to 1,000 (80% of them women). This represents a significant number of new jobs for a town like Bouaké. CASA is also preparing to provide technical advice to cashew farmers, most of whom are grouped into cooperatives. In particular, this

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year CASA intends to train around 5,000 producers in quality assessment techniques and methods for harvesting high-quality nuts. It will also teach them better cultivation methods and market analysis skills to improve decision-making. There is huge growth potential at this level too, although there are still numerous obstacles: training the producers and workers, improving roads, importing machines, etc.

However, CASA is determined to lead the way and, in so doing, it will encourage other private investors as well, in developing this sector. The nut kernels that CASA exports to Europe and the USA are plain nuts, i.e. semi-finished products. At present, any additional steps like seasoning, roasting and, where relevant, processing into cashew butter, cashew milk or cashew balm, are carried out by the importing countries.

However, CASA does not intend to miss out on the opportunities offered by this second processing stage: the company plans to open a new division for this stage of the process in order to exploit the full potential of the cashew project.

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After being steamed for about ten minutes, the cashew nuts are mechanically shelled. Some nuts are shelled by hand.

The cashew nuts, sometimes called pommes-cajous, are picked in the village of Botro in the Bouaké region in central Côte d’Ivoire.

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The process: from tree to kernel

The hardy cashew tree has a dense canopy and a mature tree can grow as high as ten metres. The ideal growing conditions for the cashew tree are in regions where temperatures range from 20° to 36°C, with an annual rainfall of 800 −1,800 mm and a definite dry season lasting at least 5 months. The tree takes three years to start producing fruit.

This fruit consists of two parts, the cashew apple or false fruit and the cashew nut. Farmers separate the apple from the nut at harvest time which takes place from mid-February to the end of June, after the first flowering period. A second or even a third flowering period may also occur, depending on the region. The apples are sometimes used to produce alcohol, juice, vinegar or syrup and the nuts are left to dry on the ground before being taken to a processing centre.

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Farmers separate the apple from the nut at harvest time. The apples are used to produce alcohol, juice, vinegar or syrup and the nuts are left to dry on the ground before being taken to a processing center.

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The unprocessed nuts are loaded into the “Cooker” where they are steamed to make shelling easier.

At the warehouse, the nuts are first dried and graded according to size as A, B, C or D. They are then steamed for ten minutes to concentrate the acidity of the shell and make it easier for the women workers to separate the shell from the kernel. The shelling process can be done in two ways: by machine, where the shell is cut in two and the kernel is released, or by hand where necessary.

Once released from their shells the kernels are dried then moistened again to remove the thin membrane around the kernel. Next, any persistent membranes are scraped and cleaned off by a machine called the “deskinner”.

This machine manages approximately 60% of the nuts, leaving 40% to be processed by nimble fingers scraping them one by one, with the help of a small knife.

Once this process is finished, the kernels pass to the sorting department. The “perfect” so-called white kernels are sorted into categories according to their size.

The “less than perfect” kernels are carefully sorted depending on the type of imperfection, according to the standards adopted by the Food Industry Association (AFI). After sorting, around 20% of these kernels are recycled.

When this stage is complete, the kernels are sterilised before being vacuum-packed. They remain in the warehouses for another 48 hours to ensure the packaging is completely airtight. Before being exported, a traceability sheet is attached to each pack which includes the date of packaging, source of production and batch number.

In its first year, CASA will have processed almost 2,000 tonnes of raw nuts, equating to approximately 400 tonnes of cashew kernels. It plans to process 7,500 tonnes of raw nuts in 2015.

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A loader fills the shelling machine with nuts, 20 kilos at a time.

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Women workers shell the nuts and remove the kernels. Some of the nuts are shelled mechanically, others by hand.

The nuts are graded according to type of imperfection and must conform to standards set by the Association of Food Industries.

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The kernels are left to stand in warehouses for 48 hours to ensure that their vacuum packaging will be completely airtight. They are then exported prior to undergoing further processing, such as roasting and salting.

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Before exportation, the bags are given traceability labels, showing the date when they were packed, place of origin and batch number.

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Simone Ouattara, an exemplary worker

When Cajou Des Savanes-SA (CASA) told the people of Bouaké, Côte d’Ivoire’s second-largest city, that several hundred jobs would be created in the spring of 2014, Simone Ouattara was determined not to let the opportunity pass. Like so many other women in the town she hurried to the gates of the factory where the building had just opened and the paint on the walls was barely dry. Her determination quickly paid off. She landed a three-month placement in the department demanding the most skill – sorting. This is where the women workers grade the kernels to comply with international standards. It is a job that requires great concentration, since there are no fewer than 26 possible imperfections. As Simone explains, the nuts can be whole and white but also broken, discoloured, powdered, oily, crumpled, misshapen or even nibbled by insects. All these are rejected.

A fast and meticulous worker, Simone was soon recognised as one of the most outstanding new recruits. Her attendance record was also excellent, which was just what the factory needed to get their new activities up and running. While some workers paid by the day decided to stay away on market day, to Simone her work was so important that she did not dare to take time off, thereby not spoiling her chances. Her exemplary attitude was rewarded. In January 2015, Simone Ouattara was given the job of training newcomers to the factory. Wearing a mask, with her hair caught up in a cotton net for health and safety reasons, she hands out advice while supervising the whole department. Despite the demands of this two-fold task, she has no complaints. For the first time in her life, Simone Ouattara has what she calls “a proper job”.

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Infrastructure

Azito, powering development

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The involvement of IPS (WA) in infrastructures dates back to the 1990s. At that time, the African states were developing new policies aimed at tackling the poor road network and inadequate water and electricity supply that were hindering development in West Africa. Given the scale of investment required by the infrastructure sector, governments turned to private investors and sought to establish public-private partnerships.

The time to embark on a new chapter in the history of IPS (WA) had begun.

In 1997 the Côte d’Ivoire government launched an international call for tenders for the study, construction, operation and eventual handover to the state (after 25 years) of a power station located in Azito, a small fishing village in Yopougon. The increasing energy requirements of Côte d’Ivoire and West Africa called for a new power plant generating a previously unparalleled level of power. The tender submitted by IPS (WA) in association with the engineering company, ABB (Asea Brown Boveri) was selected. Two years after signature of the concession agreement with the state, the Azito power plant went into operation with two natural-gaspowered turbines, each generating 150 megawatts of power.

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In providing this considerable expansion in the country’s electricity network capacity, the Azito power plant took its place alongside another of the country’s independent energy producers, CIPREL (1994). By bringing together the expertise of world leaders in electricity and the know-how of well-established developers (Globeleq has been a partner of IPS (WA) since 2010), the Azito power plant established itself as a benchmark for the whole region.

Phase three of Azito begins in 2015 with a steam turbine powered by the exhaust gas from the two existing turbines, which increases the plant’s output to 420 megawatts. By harnessing ecotechnology (with the third turbine consuming no additional gas), Azito is now one of the most innovative and high-performance power plants in West Africa.

This success is the fruit of the partnership between various stakeholders. Several companies are involved in the Azito power plant: Globeleq, an electricity deve-lopment, production and operation company; the cons-truction companies Alstom and Hyundai.

Azito Énergie, in which IPS (WA) is a partner, owns the power station. The staff who work there ensure that the plant fulfils its contractual obligations to the Ivorian state, the operating company (Azito O&M), the

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funding providers and the insurance companies. In this sector, as in the agri-food and packaging industries, IPS (WA) seeks to acquire the expertise the business requires while contributing to economic development and safeguarding local communities. The ecological dimension of the third phase − a steam turbine powered exclusively by the recovery of heat from the exhaust gases produced from the first two turbines − resonates well with IPS (WA) philosophy, which has at its heart sustainable and durable development.

IPS (WA) investments are not confined to energy in Côte d’Ivoire alone. In 2000, IPS (WA) also invested in Énergie du Mali (EDM) when the company was partially privatised. Following the decision to separate the water and electricity sectors in 2012, EDM now manages an interconnected network and standalone plants serving around 26 towns in Mali. The network’s 150 megawatts of thermally-generated power is further boosted by almost 200 MW from various hydroelectric dams.

EDM serves some 400,000 customers but the network remains inadequate in terms of meeting the growing demand. In this IPS (WA) is solidly behind the Malian government in helping it respond to this increase, to peak demand times and to the difficulties of supplying some of the country’s more remote towns.

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Ventilation is supplied by two heat recovery units and an air-cooling system, with an air-cooled condenser in closed circuit.

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Phase 3 of Azito begins in 2015 with a steam turbine powered by the exhaust gas from the two existing turbines.

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The process: from gas to electricity

The AZITO natural gas-fired thermal power plant generates around 420 megawatts (MW), and is currently the most efficient and modern power station in West Africa.

It was built in three phases, respectively completed and operational in 1999 (150 MW), 2000 (150 MW) and 2015 (120 MW).

The turbines of the first two phases are primarily powered by natural gas, with an oil emergency back-up. A thermal block comprising a 5-storey turbine and axial air compressor delivers pressurised air to the annular combustion chamber, which is equipped with low nitrogen oxide emission burners.

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The steam turbine hall at the preparation stage a few months before the start of Phase 3.

An air-cooled alternator generates the electricity which is transmitted to the Ivorian electricity network for distribution in Côte d’Ivoire and the neighbouring countries connected by the Compagnie Ivoirienne d’Electricité (CIE), a private company. The two GT 13 E2 gas turbines installed by Alstom each generate almost 150 megawatts of electricity.

The third turbine, operational from May 2015, is a steam turbine operated exclusively by waste energy in the form of heat contained in the exhaust gas of the two other turbines. No new source of combustion is therefore necessary. Conversion of the simple-cycle thermal power station to a combined-cycle power station comprises the addition of two heat recovery units and an air-cooling system, with an air-cooled condenser in closed circuit.

The heat recovery units produce steam which moves to the steam turbine itself driving a power generator. Once generated, the electricity passes through a transformer to raise the voltage before being fed into the 225 kV CIE substation near the power plant. From there it is distributed across the entire interconnected network.

Phase 3 has increased the plant’s output by 50%, resulting in a huge efficiency gain from 32% to around 54%. It requires no additional gas consumption so will have the advantage of lowering the electricity cost price. The AZITO power plant accounts for more than a third of national power generation and also supplies neighbouring countries.

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Jacky Juan-Treich, the “multi-plug” of Phase 3

Jacky Juan-Treich is in charge of planning and reporting on Azito Phase 3. Which is why, in the run-up to the commissioning of the third turbine at the Azito power plant, his diary is so overloaded. The plant is situated in the Yopougon district of Abidjan. Barely ten minutes go by without his phone ringing. Calls come from one end of the plant to the other, from project management to the site director’s office by way of the energy advisory group, every one of them with an urgent request. Jacky never has a moment to himself. After taking a degree in aeronautics in Toulouse, where he specialised in electrical engineering, his first job was with the German components manufacturer Liebherr Aerospace. When Azito was looking for someone to take charge of planning and reporting for the whole of Phase 3, Jacky wanted to go back to his roots in Côte d’Ivoire and there to take up the challenge of the new Azito project. On 1 March 2013, full of determination, he joined Azito Énergie where the atmosphere was genuinely “electric” as the Phase 3 countdown began.

From dawn until dusk, Jacky moves around the site. He jokingly compares himself to a multi-plug − he is the one they all converge on, with their expert advice, feedback and technical know-how. The Azito site is a veritable Tower of Babel − the employees are not only from Côte d’Ivoire, but also from Korea, the Philippines, Canada, Belgium, France, Italy and Switzerland.

To coordinate this complex mosaic, Jacky uses all necessary means of communication – on-site meetings, reports, even sketches, drawings and diagrams, to make sure they all know where they are. But in this bastion of technological sophistication, it is difficult to cater for every need.

Although Jacky is a graduate engineer, these days most of his time is taken up with human resources issues. As well as facing the challenge presented by the launch of Phase 3, Jacky also has the satisfaction of taking part in an audacious project in which recyclable water is used to generate enough electricity to serve an entire nation. And the whole operation is eco-friendly, something that has always mattered deeply to Jacky.

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Jacques Kouassi N’Da, responsible of contractual obligations

Jacques Kouassi N’Da joined Azito Énergie in May 2013. He is an engineer and physicist and graduate of the École polytechnique fédérale in Lausanne (Switzerland), and a linchpin of the power plant’s operational effectiveness. His main role at Azito Énergie is that of technical director, with the task of monitoring the operation and maintenance of the Azito thermal power plant. Central to this is ensuring the proper execution of the agreement binding Azito Énergie and the state of Côte d’Ivoire, requiring him to attend the performance testing that takes place at the start of each year. These tests comprise the calculation of the plant’s actual power and specific consumption, corrected for measurements obtained under prevailing conditions such as temperature and humidity level. He checks that the values obtained are in line with those set by the contract.

In the event that the power thus calculated falls within the agreed contract values, but not all that power is used by the state, the latter must still pay Azito for this power (a ‘take or pay’ contract). In turn, Azito Energie undertakes to provide the state with a guaranteed availability rate for the power plant, failure to deliver which would incur penalties.

Before working at Azito Énergie, Jacques Kouassi N’Da headed the department of Industry, Energy and Mines at the Bureau National d’Études Techniques et Développement (BNETD). During his career with the Ivorian authorities he worked on the start-up and development of the Azito Project, and was a regular visitor to the site where he monitored the roll-out of plant phases 1 and 2 (in operation since 2000) and the completion of phase 3. As a result he acquired a broad overview of the constraints and opportunities governing the evolution of the power station. Jacques Kouassi N’Da is responsible for ensuring that the power station fulfils its contractual obligations.

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Africa is changing

Our introduction described how Africa is changing. Today, no part of the continent has escaped globalisation.

Africa has also become the scene of dramatic, head-on clashes. Between the gentle seasonal rhythm of village life and the relentless frenzy of the towns and cities; between the comforting traditional world and the harshness of increasing individualism; between an economy governed by limited resources and the endless materialism of the consumer society.

Africans and those who do business in Africa face the constant challenge of adapting to change while remaining grounded.

Throughout its history, IPS (WA) has sought to strike a balance between the different worlds in which it operates. Whether working in remote villages in Côte d’Ivoire or in the hi-tech environment of the Abidjan’s Azito power plant, the organisation has done its utmost to protect the interests of three different groups which are sometimes far apart: the staff whose skills must be developed, the local communities where IPS (WA) activities are based and whose quality of life it seeks to improve, and the shareholders, whose interests it must safeguard.

But IPS (WA) has found its way forward by keeping abreast of current developments and broadening its expertise. The guiding principle behind the organisation’s activities is clear, logical and well-founded. For example, when the need arose to package agricultural crops, IPS (WA) invested in packaging. Then, when the moment came to process the crops, it went into agri-business. And when it was time to boost the economy, the organisation set its sights on the much wider sphere of infrastructure, specifically energy generation to support industrialisation.

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Whenever possible, IPS (WA) has played a pioneering role. This was true of the use of jute and the development of rigid packaging such as pre-forms and stoppers for carbonated soft drinks. It was also true of the transformation the organisation brought about in Côte d’Ivoire’s metal-processing industry. And with the launch of Cajou des Savanes in 2014, IPS (WA) has once again broken new ground, the aim being to facilitate the rapid expansion of the cashew nut processing industry. This followed the Ivorian government’s request for IPS (WA) to oversee the development of this promising agri-business sector.

But for IPS (WA) it is never enough simply to set up a project without the certainty that it will be viable and sustainable. The best example of IPS (WA)’s perseverance in recent years is SN SOSUCO. Acquired jointly by IPS and the Burkina Faso government in 1998 and renamed Société Nouvelle – Société Sucrière de la Comoé, the company has continuously been confronted with serious problems, some of them threatening its very survival. But SOSUCO’s importance to Comoé Province in terms of employment and development has meant that everyone, from management to staff, sugar-cane cutters and shareholders, worked hard to set the company back on track.

L for leadership, E engagement, A for amélioration permanente – constant improvement, D for diversity, E for ethics and R for responsibility. It was not by chance that the staff of IPS (WA) chose these words to define the institution’s values. LEADER empowers each individual to take up challenges but also to stay the course. LEADER is a call that implies both development and durability This book attempts to reflect this journey.

A beautiful object, it is a way of thanking all those who have enabled IPS (WA) to achieve its goals – from senior personnel to office staff, labourers and farmers.

Mahamadou Sylla CEO

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Laurence D’Hondt has worked as a freelance journalist since 2003 and is a former Paris correspondent for La Libre Belgique. Her articles are published in France, Switzerland and Belgium and are often translated. She is the author of Miroir d’asile (Mirror on Asylum), published by Labor, recording the experiences of a civil servant faced daily with asylum seekers, and has contributed to a variety of other books She also founded La Tribune de Diego, a newspaper covering northern Madagascar.

Gaël Turine is a professional photographer and the author of several books, including Aveuglément (Blindly) published by Collection Photo Poche, which examines cooperatives for the blind in West Africa. His most recent work Le mur et la peur (The Wall and Fear), published by Actes Sud, focuses on the wall between India and Bangladesh. A member of Agence VU, he has taken part in numerous exhibitions and his reportages regularly appear in the international press.