African Farming’s Agro-Investment Summit

4-5 June 2018. London, United Kingdom. African Farming’s Agro-Investment Summit

This summit was designed for an array of stakeholders like Government officials and representatives, importers, distributors, agribusiness owners, C-level executives from food companies, trade union members and manufacturers/suppliers of various agricultural equipment, machinery and services.

Key focal point 1: Achievement of integrated finance for African agricultural development via cross border partnerships amongst financial institutions

• Investment banking
• Venture capitalism
• Crop insurance
• Micro financing
• Other financial opportunities

Key focal point 2: Harnessing processing and packaging opportunity via public–private partnerships for agro-development

• Finance for the establishment agro industrial parks/farm estates
• Stable crop processing zones
• Practical solutions and benchmark products to address the challenges in cold chain storage and post harvest management systems
• Opportunities for partnership between private sector and government 
• Engagement of youths in productive engagement
• Standardization boards and agencies

Key focal point 3: How Brexit will affect future trading and relationships. Attraction of foreign direct investments

• Alliances between government and global solution providers
• PPP opportunities
• Post Brexit effect

I don’t see the challenge as access to finance, the first challenge is access to land. Most of the people who succeed in agriculture do so on large land masses not on small-holder farms. Industrial farmers are the ones who need to be encouraged to do successful farming. Look at what’s happened in Thailand. They have built canals and dams. In the same way, African governments need to identify areas and put the right infrastructure in place; dams, roads, power facilities, and then invite people to invest. Let’s not get too hung up on exporting products when there is enough local demand. Nestle does not export most of what it produces in Nigeria. As businessman I also know, that it makes more money trading ginger within Nigeria than trying to export it, which can take 200 days to ship ginger to Europe. This is too long.” Dr Teddy Ngu, GB Foods Strategy and Integration Director, Africa and Middle East

Extracts of the porogramme

Panel Discussion – Attracting Foreign Investment

• Moderator: Wilma Aguele, CEO, Wilbahi Investments Limited
• Emmanuel Doni-Kwame (see picture) : Secretary General, International Chamber of Commerce – Ghana 
• Admir Imami, Director of Trade Finance and Supply Chain Finance, CDC Group PLC
• Dr Muhammed Kagu (see picture), Group Head, Agric Finance (Corporate Banking) First Bank of Nigeria Ltd
• Vicky Pryce, Economist at Centre for Economics and Business Research UK

Panel Discussion: Developing the next generation of agripreneurs

• Moderator: Frederick Jan Henderik Schreurs, CEO, Business Incubation Platform IITA 
• Biodun Onalaja (see picture) , Chairman and CEO, Hyst Global 
• Leila Ben Hassen, Founder and CEO, Blue Jay Communication
• Christopher Isaac, Director of Investments & Business Development, AgDevCo