INDUSTRY FOCUS: FOOD & DRINK
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Just ask any investor worth their salt where the next region is that offers massive growth potential and opportunity, in terms of return on investment, and you will hear only one answer: Africa. More than any other developing region in the world today, increasingly stable and capable governance and soaring demand for commodities means that Africa has become a top-two global hotspot for foreign investment. And make no mistake about it – in spite of economic wobbles in some countries, the continent is booming. Across its length and breadth, all industries, from banking and telecommunications to IT and retail, are flourishing, thanks to the newly acquired wealth of hundreds of millions of Africans who have entered the consumer goods market. And yet as impressive as such industries are in terms of wealth generation and performance, agriculture undoubtedly remains the regions’ primary engine of growth. Accounting for 65% of employment across the continent, 75% of domestic trade, and 15% of total GDP, agriculture
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is at the vanguard of the continent’s development drive. This being so, it should come as little surprise that the industry is itself undergoing a radical transformation no less dramatic than that of the wider African economy. Modernisation is at the heart of this reformation, of course, but, more than this, companies like Philafrica Foods are emerging that are tearing up the traditional agri-business rulebook. And as the company’s CEO Roland Decorvet explains, they are not solely motivated by growth and profit, they are driven by a goal to create an Africa-centric company that will empower and enrich Africa and its people. “We like to believe we are different because we believe in the future of
replacement. We are only focused on Africa, on food processing, more specifically the food processing of African raw materials. We’re not interested in importing crude palm oils from locations like Indonesia, for example. He continues: “The mission of Philafrica Foods has a very strong social objective; it was this opportunity to create a positive social impact that inspired me to return to the corporate world after being Managing Director of NGO, Mercy Ships. I believe the only two industries that can truly rescue Africa, really help its people and transform the continent is indeed agriculture and food processing. It’s only these two industries that have the capability to impact
// WE LIKE TO BELIEVE WE ARE DIFFERENT BECAUSE WE BELIEVE IN THE FUTURE OF AFRICA// Africa. We are committed to developing, processing, and adding value to locally grown crops; on building up supply from smallholders and on import
millions upon millions of people. “Having built a relationship with the owners of AFGRI, one of the agriservice sector’s leaders in the region,