Temitope Mayegun has made a name in Nigeria selling natural oils from fruits, seeds and vegetables, but it was a greasy path to follow.



From stock trading to skincare, in the last four years, Temitope Mayegun has built a company that sells what she calls “natural skincare products” but to achieve that, she first needed to change the mindset of Nigerians.&nbsp;&nbsp;



“I got divine inspiration,” she says, “to start a company that will enrich lives and inspire a healthier and happier world.” The founder and CEO of Avila Naturalle in Nigeria felt she needed to first educate people about the toxic and unsafe chemicals they were hitherto using for bleaching and skin whitening, considering how sought-after they are in Nigeria.



The former stock broker was also frustrated she couldn’t find an all-natural skin product without bleaching or whitening ingredients harmful to the skin, so she created her own.



Today, from a humble start in 2017, her company retails over 350 products in the skincare division, 90 products in the food division and 10 products in the water and drinks division.



But it took a lot of ground work and research to start with.



“I saw that many people believe your skincare product should enhance or change your skin color,” recalls Mayegun.



With a degree in accounting from the University of Lagos as well as an International Masters in Business Administration from Eaton Business School; and having done a Harvard Business School Executive Leadership course, Mayegun’s most valuable qualification would prove to be a diploma she obtained in an organic and natural skin school in London.



Equipped with the knowledge of the goodness of natural products, Mayegun set out on the cumbersome path of changing perceptions.



“It was difficult because a lot of people were not ready to change their bleaching and whitening products. So, we did not follow the crowd even though there was pressure to go into whitening and pressure to create products that will let customers bleach their skin,” says Mayegun.



To combat stereotypes, Mayegun knew she had to create a unique product. She began with 30,000 units of pure coconut oil.



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote">“I had to create campaigns to educate the public on the importance of using natural products.”</blockquote>



“At the time, there was no pure coconut oil on the market. Most of them were watered down with other edible oils which reduces the quality. I had to create campaigns to educate the public on the importance of using natural products and sell them on the superior quality of our products.”



The hard work paid off and Mayegun sold out her 30,000 units, which was two cartons of pure coconut oil, in just two days. It was time to expand her business and with that, she needed to find capital.



“I started asking friends for a loan but I could not raise the money. I went to microfinance companies looking for a $10,000-loan and they said I needed collateral which I didn’t have.



“There were times when I worked between 17 and 21 hours a day. I would be trying to convince people on why they should use coconut oil for their skin. I knew people were not ready for natural products but I kept pushing and after a while, I got a lot of people asking for coconut oil and it was not easy meeting the demand,” says Mayegun.



Soon, word got out and the distributors came calling. Today, Avila Naturalle offers multiple natural essential oils made from carrots, avocado, hibiscus and mustard.



“When people saw our mustard oil, they were shocked that there were these oils in Nigeria. So, they bought in bulk to resell. We were the first to produce essential oils in Nigeria. People were asking if we bought them from abroad and dilute it with other products which was the norm. We are the only company that sells 100% pure natural oils from fruits and seeds.”



The sizeable beauty and personal care market in Nigeria is what Mayegun has sets her sights on.



“To make this happen we have created a multi-channel natural body care and household brand with multiple product lines, which combines a dynamic distribution network with a retail strategy as well as e-commerce,” she says, also referring to changing consumer habits in the post-Covid world.



With just $100 and a burgeoning global supply chain network, Mayegun has built a million-dollar company manufacturing natural body and hair care products and foods in Africa.

temitope mayegun

The Natural Route To Business Success

Insect farming is providing the planet a cheaper alternative source of protein. And South African startups bringing it to the mainstream say there’s no business like the bug business. Could the future of food be insect-protein?



An insect in your meal? What was once food faux pas is now a deliberate culinary concoction.



Insect-based proteins are slowly finding their way into agricultural production lines and the menus of discerning diners. It’s a growing industry also looking to primarily help meet the demands of an increasing population, with several startups now pioneering this sector in Africa.



But nutritional bugs are not new to palates across the world; it’s just the way they are being given new meaning that’s gaining currency in the continent&#8217;s farming communities. “Eating insects is nothing new, but the key is to provide a functional equivalent to animal protein that is more sustainable,” says Dr Leah Bessa, co-founder of South African company Gourmet Grubb, which produces a dairy alternative from insect-proteins.



“We found that people were quite willing to try our product. While there is still a mental barrier (to insect-proteins), the market will change quite quickly – it took a long time for plant-based alternative proteins to become accepted, but now they are commonly available.” Gourmet Grubb has positioned itself at the intersection of novelty and environmental sustainability. Based in Cape Town, it farms insects from spent grain. The environmental costs to such farming are considerably lower than animal farming, a major contributor to pollution and land use globally. “South African palates can be quite conservative, but it’s a matter of availability and exposure before tastes change,” continues Bessa.



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote">“We found that people were quite willing to try our product. While there is still a mental barrier (to insect-proteins), the market will change quite quickly – it took a long time for plant-based alternative proteins to become accepted, but now they are commonly available.”</blockquote>



In South Africa, mopane worms (a species of emperor moth) fall under the category of edible insect-proteins that most people are familiar with. Once a regional staple in the Limpopo province of South Africa, household consumption of it has been on the decline as people move to more Western diets, despite increased interest in the Western world in new forms of protein – so says Dr Bronwyn Egan, a pioneer in insect-protein research at the Larry Leach Herbarium, University of Limpopo.



“Most people consuming insects currently do so as a form of subsistence protein – because it’s cheap and well, free.” According to the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization in 2013, globally, some two billion people in 130 countries consume insects as a source of protein already, but with population numbers expected to boom to 10 billion by 2050 and global food production expected to grow as much as 70% to meet the new demand, novel and effective food sources are needed. Cost to consumers can play an equal if not greater impact than sentiment, with insect protein being comparable in terms of nutrition to most animal proteins, but considerably cheaper per gram. However, with an increase in consumption and the formalization of insect-protein farming come other challenges.



“The industry needs a baseline nutritional analysis to provide more information as to the benefits of different insect-based proteins, as well as more investigation into the ecology of the insects themselves,” says Egan.



“Once products are out in the market, there is also a need to comply with food safety legislation, and ensure that sustainability and the environment are a key part of production – ideally, before the marketing of insect-protein products, but it seems these will have to happen together.”&nbsp; Innovative companies such as Gourmet Grubb, Ensekta and Kenya’s InsectiPro are expected to make a break into the mainstream, with the estimates of the global insect-protein market at around $8 billion by 2030 (according to Meticulous Research last year), paving the way for new opportunities for growth and investment on the African continent. “Grasshoppers are the tastiest,” laughs Egan, in conclusion.



– By Yeshiel Panchia

Insect Protein 3

Bugs In Your Food? Yes Please, And Spicy!

By Sabdiyo Dido Bashuna, Senior Technical Adviser Value Chains &amp; Agribusiness, Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA)



As Covid-19 continues its spread across Africa, the restrictions to limit infection are having a disproportionate impact on half of the continent’s food growers and producers: women.



At a time when food security is under extra strain because of the pandemic, women in agriculture are enduring extra hygiene and social distancing measures on top of endemic inequalities, which together undermine their capacity to respond and recover from the crisis.



But the pandemic has also triggered creativity and survival techniques, leading to product diversity, new digital marketing and distribution channels.



Across Africa, women make up&nbsp;<a href="http://www.fao.org/3/am307e/am307e00.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">50 per cent</a>&nbsp;of the agricultural labour force as well as often taking primary responsibility for caring for families, households and communities.



Yet historic inequalities mean women are facing the added pressure of the coronavirus outbreak while also having access to just a fraction of the necessary resources, from land and labour to finance and trainings.



In normal times, the productivity gap between men and women farmers is an estimated&nbsp;<a href="http://www.fao.org/3/i2050e/i2050e04.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">30 per cent</a>&nbsp;as a result of unequal access to resources, but with shocks like coronavirus exacerbating existing inequalities, the potential impact on food production, food security and nutrition could be far greater. &nbsp;&nbsp;



Better supporting African women in agriculture would help bridge this gap and increase both yields and profitability, providing more food for the poor, sick and hungry, and more income to support rural families during the global health emergency. So how can we do this during the pandemic?



One challenge of persistent gender inequality is that women, whose roles are often home-based and even more so during the coronavirus outbreak, tend not to present themselves for support.



The first barrier to overcome, then, is reaching women in the first place, whether with agricultural advice, financial support or valuable farm inputs like seeds, fertilizer and pesticides.



For more than three decades, CTA has worked closely with extension workers in Africa, who make direct contact with women through cooperatives and communities while also championing digital tools and services that are less intrusive or demanding.



Online networks such as&nbsp;<a href="https://value4her.hivebrite.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">VALUE4HERConnect</a>&nbsp;have provided a platform for African women entrepreneurs in agriculture that offers networking, mentoring and training support in a way that is convenient for heads of households.



These kinds of networks are also helpful for addressing a second challenge resulting from gender inequality, which is that the majority of women’s agri-businesses tend to be smaller and more likely to fail given the low levels of resilience.



To be effective, any tailored support for women must also be channelled with such small businesses in mind. Only a small fraction of rural women own bank account, for example, so accessing such funds is a challenge.



Providing grants and flexible loans for women can help them afford financial services like insurance and credit that protect their livelihoods against stresses while allowing them to invest in growing their enterprises.



Additionally, for women to fulfil their often care-based roles in households and on farms throughout the pandemic, they must be safe, both from the risk of infection and gender-based violence, which has&nbsp;<a href="https://www.unwomen.org/-/media/headquarters/attachments/sections/library/publications/2020/issue-brief-covid-19-and-ending-violence-against-women-and-girls-en.pdf?la=en&amp;vs=5006" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">increased</a>&nbsp;as a result of lockdowns.



Finally, the new coping mechanisms and survival techniques adopted by women in agribusiness during the pandemic need to be documented, supported and scaled to cushion them from failure and help build resilience against future shocks.



Governments, health agencies and non-profits must provide technical assistance to help educate women on navigating the complexities caused by this pandemic, from basic hygiene measures to skills such as business management, renegotiation of supply contracts, or accessing business support.



Women smallholders already play such a vital role in producing and providing food in low-income countries, which has become all the more important in the wake of coronavirus.



But without targeted and appropriate support, they miss fulfilling their potential, which is a loss to women and families that depend on their incomes, and in the grip of a pandemic, it may also be a fatal oversight.

gettyimages-1164630844-594×594

Op-Ed: Why African Women In Agriculture Face The Greatest Double Burden Of Covid-19 And Food Insecurity

Last year, Bill Gates named his 10 breakthrough technologies for the year. Among the technological developments he outlined were robot dexterity, new-wave nuclear power, customized cancer vaccines and the cow-free burger. It was the first time that the list, usually compiled by MIT Technology Review, was created by a guest editor. It is no wonder that Gates rightly predicted that home computers and the internet would infiltrate much of our lives. Yet, when I went through this list, it was not necessarily universal. Many of these breakthrough technologies made sense through Western lenses. We have to ask, which of these breakthrough technologies will have the most significant impact on the African continent?



Perhaps the most pressing issue for Africa now is agriculture. Climate change has had a devastating impact on the agriculture sector, which is particularly concerning when you consider that most African economies still heavily depend on it. A study by McKinsey &amp; Company found that more than 60% of the population of sub-Saharan Africa is smallholder farmers, and about 23% of sub-Saharan Africa’s gross domestic product (GDP) comes from agriculture. Yet, increases in temperatures, changes in precipitation patterns and extreme weather events not only disrupt entire industries but reduce food availability and impacts food quality. This, of course, is coupled with the fastest-rising population, which places more strain on resources.



We have already observed in the last few years how devastating a drought can be. South Africa has become a significant food importer, while Kenya and Zimbabwe are on the verge of starvation. This has seen the regional and national economic growth take a severe knock. Yet, as the United Nations put it, “the continent has enormous potential, not only to feed itself and eliminate hunger and food insecurity but also be a major player in global food markets.” So how do we go about this? I would argue that tapping into the technologies of the fourth industrial revolution (4IR) does not just serve as a way of revitalizing the agricultural sector but also realizing its potential. As the American financier Bernard Baruch once put it: “Agriculture is the greatest and fundamentally the most important of our industries. The cities are but the branches of the tree of national life, the roots of which go deep into the land. We all flourish or decline with the farmer.”



I have just bought a farm and have been looking at ways in which artificial intelligence (AI) can make farming more efficient. Farmers can tap into AI to combat disease and pests, which have been made worse by climate change and pesticide use. Drones and other robots equipped with computer vision can collect data points from the farms’ existing crops. If you were to ask me to spell out some breakthrough technologies, many of them would be inextricably linked with the agricultural sector.



For instance, it is estimated that humans would need to plant over 1.2 trillion trees to combat climate change. Here, we could use AI to automate this process.



Airlitix is a South African AI software that is currently being used in drones to automate greenhouse management processes. We could take this a step further. Airlitix can collect temperature, humidity, and carbon dioxide data as well as analyse soil and crop health. 



Elsewhere, similar technology has been adopted. The Third Eye project in Kenya uses near-infrared cameras mounted on drones to survey and diagnose the plants for pests and diseases, water stress and nutrient deficiencies. This requires a combination of historical data and the use of AI. Last year, IBM developed an AI-powered app to test the quality of their soil and water on location, in real-time. The AgroPad is a technology that can rapidly perform chemical analysis of water and soil samples. In California, Ceres Imaging has mapped fields using images of farms, which are analysed using AI to ascertain whether crops are getting enough water. This technology helps farmers decide when to plant, water, spray and harvest their crops.



This conversation crops up as we scrutinize what it means to have a green economy. The 4IR does not merely provide tools for efficiency, but it presents a unique opportunity to interrogate how we can transform the industry as our natural environment deteriorates.



To a large extent, we underestimate the importance of the agricultural sector. Yet, without it, we would not have food security, we would see our economies crumble and there would be untold job losses.



-Tshilidzi Marwala

gettyimages-1128687123-170667a

Op-Ed: How To Be A Major Player In Global Food Markets

Photo by: Kelechi Amadi-Obi (www.kelechiamadiobi.com)

Africa’s Mr Development

Picture this: remote rural Africa, where communities assiduously farm vast stretches of arable land not knowing anything about digital technology or drones that can transform their lives.
Now picture this: forward-thinking innovators and entrepreneurs who swap the city for the village and lend these communities the tech and savvy to change farming – and their fortunes – forever.
Agriculture, the mainstay of Africa’s informal economies, needs a facelift, and some new faces to talk tech to power. Agri-tech is the buzzword, and we profile three innovators spearheading change in their communities. They grew up on these farms, and knowing their earth best, have created the technology they need, in turn revolutionizing agriculture, from the little corners of Africa.
<h4>‘Clarity From Above’ 
James Paterson, South Africa</h4>
<div id="attachment_36233" style="width: 310px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-36233" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-medium wp-image-36233" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/James-Paterson-CEO-300x300.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="300" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/James-Paterson-CEO-300x300.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/James-Paterson-CEO-100x100.jpg 100w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/James-Paterson-CEO-600x600.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/James-Paterson-CEO-150x150.jpg 150w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/James-Paterson-CEO-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/James-Paterson-CEO-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/James-Paterson-CEO.jpg 1181w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />James Paterson. Photo supplied.</div>
An unidentified flying object hovers over a 150-hectare orange farm in a small town called Clanwilliam in the Western Cape Province of South Africa.
It’s the first time James Paterson is testing his homemade drone. The object flies over the mountainous terrain offering a bird’s eye view, then singles out a tree with stunted growth. The object detects that the tree is not receiving enough water.
The object looks like a prop out of the Transformers movie series. It has eyes too – a camera lens – to monitor what’s happening on the ground. Paterson, 29, controls this propeller-enhanced technology using a controller. He is the co-founder and CEO of Aerobotics, a company that interprets satellite and aerial drone analytics to enable farmers.
He calls it “clarity from above”.
The drone space in Africa has significantly developed over the years, and the view from below has certainly changed too. In Rwanda, drones are a common sight, famously used to deliver blood and medical supplies to remote areas, and here in this small South African farm, it’s being used to improve the way we grow food.
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/entreprenuers/2018/05/02/drones-by-africa-for-africa/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">READ MORE: Drones By Africa, For Africa</a>
Aerobotics’ core mandate is to provide data on tree crops, enabling farmers with information on disease, pests and water usage. They are able to tell the farmers if a tree lacks nutrition and what it needs.
“Find one small thing that is going to improve the farmers’ life and then focus on that,” says Paterson.
“Instead of just giving the farmer a picture or a map, we give him exactly what’s going on with the tree and we can track that over time.”
He believes this would be useful in areas such as Cape Town with the ongoing water crisis.
He co-founded the company with Benji Meltzer in 2014 after they built drones in Paterson’s garage. Paterson, who grew up on a fruit farm, had always loved aeronautics. Meltzer is also the Chief Technology Officer of Aerobotics.
Now, he is able to merge farming and tech into something he enjoys doing on a daily basis; running an aeronautical company providing farm analytical services.
<blockquote>“Some farmers… like the older way of doing things.”</blockquote>
<div id="attachment_36240" style="width: 310px" class="wp-caption alignright"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-36240" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-medium wp-image-36240" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/farmer-using-Aerobotics-Flight-Planner-app-for-DJI-300x200.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="200" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/farmer-using-Aerobotics-Flight-Planner-app-for-DJI-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/farmer-using-Aerobotics-Flight-Planner-app-for-DJI-600x400.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/farmer-using-Aerobotics-Flight-Planner-app-for-DJI-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/farmer-using-Aerobotics-Flight-Planner-app-for-DJI-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/farmer-using-Aerobotics-Flight-Planner-app-for-DJI.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />Aerobotics interprets satelitte and aerial drone analytics to help farmers.</div>
But running the company hasn’t always been easy. Apart from competing with drone companies providing similar services, their biggest challenge has been trying to convince farmers to use their product.
“Some farmers… like the older way of doing things,” says Paterson.
“But even then, after we have met with them and we show them what that can do, they can really understand this is something that can help them on the farm.”
Currently, they have over 200 clients in countries such as the United States, Russia and South Africa.
Paterson has been one of the few to benefit from drone innovation in agriculture. He says he and the team were the only South African startups amongst 24 companies around the world to be part of Google’s Launchpad Accelerator in San Francisco early this year.
They have also secured an R8 million ($663,000) fund from two venture capital firms who Paterson says saw the benefit of their software for farmers. They are currently undergoing a new round of funding.
Aerobotics’ Chief Financial Officer, Timothy Willis, believes that technology in farming can assist in better risk mitigation and enhancing efficiencies around yields.
“I think those two things together will add to making a more efficient agricultural sector in Africa,” he says.
Five years from now, Paterson predicts drones will become more autonomous.
“In the future, you won’t be concerned about the drone, it will just do all the work for you.”
<h4>Smart Farming 
Ndubuisi Ekekwe, Abia State, Nigeria</h4>
<div id="attachment_36235" style="width: 210px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-36235" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-medium wp-image-36235" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/NdubuisiEkekwe_IMG_82841-200x300.jpg" alt="" width="200" height="300" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/NdubuisiEkekwe_IMG_82841-200x300.jpg 200w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/NdubuisiEkekwe_IMG_82841-300x450.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/NdubuisiEkekwe_IMG_82841-600x900.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/NdubuisiEkekwe_IMG_82841-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/NdubuisiEkekwe_IMG_82841-682x1024.jpg 682w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/NdubuisiEkekwe_IMG_82841.jpg 1181w" sizes="(max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px" />Ndubuisi Ekekwe. Photo supplied.</div>
From a farm in the Abia State of Nigeria, Dr Ndubuisi Ekekwe talks to us about a table.
Not just any table, but a small square-shaped table resting on one leg, which actually is “an electronic farm diary” that records and collects crucial information for farmers.
Ekekwe calls it Zenvus, which he created in 2011. It collects data on the soil’s pH, moisture and temperature, and records the sun’s intensity and humidity in the air. An inbuilt solar panel charges it.
The device is his contribution to smart farming. It wirelessly transmits the recorded data to a cloud server from which farmers access it on a mobile app and get real-time data.
“2020 to 2030 will be the decade of agri-tech,” Ekekwe tells FORBES AFRICA.
Zenvus services corporates, and have supplied to 500,000 farming entities. He says it’s currently in a partnership with the government of Cross River State in Nigeria, as well as Abia State.
Ekekwe says he has been approached by a number of international companies wanting to cash in on Zenvus. However, he has been reluctant to sell it.
“Someone wanted to buy Zenvus for $5 million five years ago. I wouldn’t even sell it for $15 million, just to tell you the kind of value it has,” he says.
For Ekekwe, it’s more important to service farmers. To date, he prides himself in having the largest farmers’ cooperative in Africa.
<blockquote>“I wouldn’t even sell it for $15 million.”</blockquote>
<div id="attachment_36239" style="width: 310px" class="wp-caption alignright"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-36239" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-medium wp-image-36239" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Field-Photos-of-Both-Devices-300x200.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="200" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Field-Photos-of-Both-Devices-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Field-Photos-of-Both-Devices-600x400.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Field-Photos-of-Both-Devices-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Field-Photos-of-Both-Devices-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Field-Photos-of-Both-Devices.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />Zenvus collects crucial data for farmers in Nigeria.</div>
Ekekwe grew up as a farm boy in a village called Ovim in Abia State. Growing up, he received distinctions throughout his high school year and went on to acquire an engineering degree, four master’s degrees, two doctorates in management and microelectronics, as also a medical robotics degree from the United States.
He chose to move back and stay on in his village.
Ovim is known for the Ajonkwu festival when the Igbo community gather to celebrate the harvesting season.
According to Ekekwe, farmers rely on the moon to obtain a greater yield. As a result, tech for farming isn’t something a lot of people in his community are open to.
“Farmers are not literate and that is why we are not selling tech to them, we are selling the service,” he says.
According to the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), 65% of Africa’s labor force is engaged in agriculture. Despite this, agricultural productivity on the African continent still lags behind significantly compared to other continents. AGRA suggests that farming only accounts for 32% of the continent’s GDP. Africa therefore does not reap the benefits of agriculture.
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/politics/2017/06/05/agriculture-behind-africas-health/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">READ MORE: Agriculture Behind Africa’s Health</a>
Ekekwe says the future of Africa is farming. He believes the convergence of tech and agriculture will result in more people wanting a piece of the pie of agri-tech startups and open up more opportunities for Africans across the continent.
<h4>‘Uber For Farmers’ 
Brian Bosire, Kisii, Kenya</h4>
<div id="attachment_36237" style="width: 310px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-36237" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-36237 size-medium" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/RS16164_DSC_17101-300x181.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="181" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/RS16164_DSC_17101-300x181.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/RS16164_DSC_17101-600x361.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/RS16164_DSC_17101-768x462.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/RS16164_DSC_17101-1024x617.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/RS16164_DSC_17101.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />Brian Bosire. Photo supplied.</div>
On a farm in southwestern Kenya, in the small town of Kisii, a field agent reads data off a yellow square-shaped monitor, which has wires running into a smaller device connecting to the soil. It takes him about five minutes to read data regarding the soil’s PH, water levels, and disease and pests found on it. In almost two minutes, the data is sent to the farmer.
The field worker’s job is done and he looks at his phone to find his next requested farm match.
The device that has helped him is named UjuziKilimo, which is Swahili for ‘knowledge farming’. Its founder, 24-year-old Brian Bosire, calls it “an Uber service for farmers”, and this on a farm that even Uber might find difficult to access.
The field worker travels to the nearest farmer who has requested his services. This kind of smart farming service costs the Kenyan farmer about $20.
Bosire had always wanted to become a key contributor to Kenya’s agricultural industry. He grew up in Kisii, a town known for its highlands and wet weather – favorable climate for farming. Frustrated by the lethargic technological growth in the agricultural space in his town, he sought to create something innovative that would improve the yields for the farmers of Kisii.
“We aren’t selling tech, we are selling the solutions,” he tells FORBES AFRICA.
Bosire says what he tries to do is become as close to the farmer as possible. As a result, he and his team target small-scale farmers and read data on vegetable crops, maize being one of them. The UjuziKilimo can read data from about five to 10 acres of land. Farmers can request data on their farms by simply sending an SMS so even farmers with the most basic cellular devices can benefit.
<blockquote>“We aren’t selling tech, we are selling the solutions.”</blockquote>
<div id="attachment_36238" style="width: 310px" class="wp-caption alignright"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-36238" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-medium wp-image-36238" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Ujuzi-Kit-300x200.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="200" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Ujuzi-Kit-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Ujuzi-Kit-600x400.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Ujuzi-Kit-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Ujuzi-Kit-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Ujuzi-Kit.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />UjuziKilimo helps improve yields.</div>
When Bosire moved to the big city of Nairobi to study, he took advantage of every opportunity to pursue his dreams as an entrepreneur. To date, he has founded three companies, all operating in the tech innovation space, UjuziKilimo one of them. 
It’s old hat that Kenya, the country which pioneered M-Pesa as one of Africa’s leading startups, is home to a lot more players in the tech space. But Bosire says his business is different.
Earlier this year, his other innovation company, HydroIQ, won the Startup of the Year Africa 2018 award. Slightly linked to agri-tech, it’s a virtual water network operator which connects water utility companies and water consumers through an online platform. It allows for mobile money payments, data analytics, leakage detections and water use and consumption through sensors that relay information.
All this leads one to believe that the future face of farming in Africa is young.
Bosire hopes UjuziKilimo can grow to reach from 10,000 farmers to over 50,000.
“We want to become the largest data center of agriculture analytics in Africa,” he says. Future plans include launching UjuziKilimo in the United Kingdom under the name ‘Soil Pal’.
&nbsp;

Green Combine harvesting small path of wheat

‘2020 to 2030 Will Be The Decade Of Agri-Tech’

The revival of Nigeria’s economy has gained momentum under the guidance of President Buhari’s ERGP programme; its ambitious targets yield results that seem to indicate that they will soon be superseded.
In spite of difficult times, Nigeria has been rated as the top 10 most improved economies in 2016/2017.
“Nigeria is a very resilient country in terms of economy,” states Mr. Venkatapathy Venkataraman Group MD at NIPCO.
<a href="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/PENRESA-FINAL.pdf">DOWNLOAD FULL REPORT HERE</a>
<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-35858" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/MAKING-NIGERIA-224x300.jpg" alt="" width="224" height="300" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/MAKING-NIGERIA-224x300.jpg 224w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/MAKING-NIGERIA-300x402.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/MAKING-NIGERIA.jpg 446w" sizes="(max-width: 224px) 100vw, 224px" />
This has been a result of the ERPG programme and its emphasis on industrialisation and diversification policies which boost capital inflows and encourages ease of doing business.
In November 2017 Godwin Emefiele Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria CBN’s presented Nigeria’s economic outlook for 2018, predicting that national forex reserves will hit US$ 40bn in 2018. In introducing I&amp;E forex the improvement in the ease of doing business is guaranteed.
“The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) played an extensive role in ensuring relative price stability and in managing the dearth of foreign exchange,” declares Mr Obeahon Ohiwerei, Managing Director at Keystone Bank.
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/focus/2018/01/19/nigeria-needs-new-national-carrier/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">READ: Why Nigeria needs a new national carrier</a>
“If the tight monetary policy continues, and the Central Bank continues to manage the liquidity that makes FX, the economy may grow more than the 1.8% projected,” claims Mr Abubakar Jimoh, CEO at Coronation Merchant Bank.
Although energy sales in Nigeria account for up to 80 percent of all government revenue and more than 90 percent of the country’s exports, Agriculture and ICT sectors have flourished, providing steady growth, employment and investment opportunities.
The ERGP’s shift towards becoming import dependent has been particularly successful in Agriculture. Proforce MD, Mr Ade Ogundeyin declares, “the government is serious and committed about made-in-Nigeria goods. They are saying that if it can be produced in Nigeria you don&#8217;t import it.”
The government&#8217;s intention to use telecoms and ICT for economic development and financial inclusion is auspicious for the industry. Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission, Mr Umar Danbatta states that “telecoms contribution to GDP is now close to 10% and has been contributing 1.4 trillion naira to the economy.”
Minister of Power, Works and Housing Hon. Fashola confirms the commitment to IT, “We&#8217;re installing more broadband and connectivity across the country,” which in turn enhances a definite entrepreneurial spirit at play amongst the people.
The government has made it extremely clear that it will be pouring funding into infrastructure. Minister of Power, Works and Housing Hon. Fashola declares, “the investment in infrastructure is driving the value chain of the economic diversification.”
The government’s plans to modernise and restructure the country’s public transport system has proved a great opportunity for investors and the economy.
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/investment-guide/2017/05/01/nigeria-needs-industrialization-now/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">READ: Nigeria Needs Industrialization now</a>
Nigeria remains a highly appealing destination for investors. Mr Tunde Fowler, Chairman at FIRS elaborates, “Nigeria is an investor’s heaven with so much potential; from industry to agriculture to telecommunications. There&#8217;s so much room for expansion and the ease of doing business ensures that anyone who has a business, or who intends to start a business, will not have to face any bureaucracy, roadblocks or hindrance.
Nigeria’s government is determined to provide profound and long-term change in economic prosperity and stability; there remains little doubt that it is Nigeria’s destiny to uphold the title of largest economy in Africa for a long time yet.

LAGOS-cv2

FOCUS ON NIGERIA: Making Nigeria

Zimbabwe urgently needs a new system of land administration to harness development in the agricultural sector. The country’s land use and ownership have been significantly reconfigured by the <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03066150.2011.583642" target="_blank" rel="noopener">fast-track land reform programme</a> undertaken during Robert Mugabe’s rule.
Today, <a href="http://www.zimbabweland.net/Books.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">following the land reform</a> of the 2000s, Zimbabwe has an agrarian structure that’s made up of small, medium and large farms, all under different forms of land ownership. A landscape that used to be dominated by 4,500 large-scale commercial farmers is now populated by about 145,000 smallholder households, occupying 4.1 million hectares, and around 23,000 medium-scale farmers on 3.5 million hectares.
Knowing exactly who has land and where is difficult. Illegal multiple allocations combine with unclear boundary demarcations and an incomplete recording system. Many new land owners don’t have formal documentation and lack leases or permits confirming ownership. There is a great deal of uncertainty given the often haphazard, sometimes corrupt, approach to land reallocation that took place under the land reform programme.
Given that the landscape is very different to what went before, a new system of land administration is urgently needed.
<h2>Promise of change</h2>
In his <a href="http://allafrica.com/stories/201711250043.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">inaugural speech</a>, Zimbabwe’s new president, Emmerson Mnangagwa, declared that land reform was both necessary and irreversible, and acknowledged some big, outstanding challenges.
A new land administration system for the post-land reform era is long overdue. <a href="https://theconversation.com/settling-the-land-compensation-issue-is-vital-for-zimbabwes-economy-89384" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Paying compensation to former owners</a> is a vital first step. This has to be combined with a comprehensive land <a href="https://zimbabweland.wordpress.com/2017/03/13/land-audits-a-tricky-technical-and-political-challenge/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">audit</a> to weed out those failing to produce, or those illegally holding more than one plot, alongside allocating leases and permits to those in land reform areas, and attracting investment into agriculture as the mainstay of an ailing economy.
Both compensation and audit processes will inevitably throw up <a href="https://zimbabweland.wordpress.com/2017/06/19/land-dispute-resolution-in-zimbabwe/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">disputes</a>. A fair and transparent system for rapid resolution is required, including the establishment of an independent Land Tribunal. Alternative dispute resolution processes at a local level will hopefully avoid the dangers of the courts getting clogged with numerous cases.
An audit also has to be linked to land registration, and an effective, but low-cost, land information management system. Following registration, legal recognition and formal documentation of land ownership is essential, as <a href="https://zimbabweland.wordpress.com/2017/07/03/beyond-the-freehold-title-obsession-generating-land-tenure-security/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">land tenure security</a> is vital for future investment.
<h2>Many forms of tenure</h2>
Some believe that the only solution is individual freehold titling, as land is otherwise seen as <a href="https://zimbabweland.wordpress.com/2012/02/10/dead-capital-de-sotos-fallacies-in-zimbabwe-3/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">“dead capital”</a>. But this is mistaken, as <a href="https://zimbabweland.wordpress.com/2017/07/03/beyond-the-freehold-title-obsession-generating-land-tenure-security/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">other forms of land tenure</a> can offer security, spurring investment, if the institutional, legal and political context is right.
As argued in 1994 by the Rukuni Commission, a major review of tenure policy in Zimbabwe, a <a href="http://www.swradioafrica.com/Documents/Sokwanele%20Why%20Zim%20needs%20to%20maintain%20a%20multi-form%20land%20tenure%20system.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">multi-form tenure</a> arrangement makes most sense. In some settings, communal tenure regimes are best, allowing flexibility and broad access. In others, a simple permit system can allow registration. In others, a leasehold arrangement can offer security and collateral, while regulations can offset land concentration and assure access for certain people.
Occasionally freehold title may be appropriate if a completely free market in land is required. However, <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-title-deeds-arent-the-solution-to-south-africas-land-tenure-problem-82098" target="_blank" rel="noopener">titling schemes</a> are notoriously expensive to deliver, open up multiple disputes and are difficult to regulate to ensure more equitable ownership structures, including land ownership by women.
<h2>Financing is essential</h2>
To pay land taxes, mortgages or compensation payments, the land must be productive, and this requires finance. <a href="https://zimbabweland.wordpress.com/2017/07/10/getting-agriculture-moving-finance-and-credit/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Finance for agriculture</a> has been missing in recent years.
Great efforts have been made to ensure that the <a href="http://www.cfuzim.org/%7Ecfuzimb/images/99yearleasepam.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">99-year lease</a> for medium-scale commercial farm land (known as A2) is bankable, and cannot be withdrawn arbitrarily. It seems that, at last, the <a href="http://source.co.zw/2017/12/banks-say-agreement-in-place-to-accept-99-year-leases-as-collateral/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Zimbabwe Banking Association</a> is in agreement. This will allow the release of private bank finance, as land can be used as collateral.
For those without land leases, other types of collateral can also be used, including assets such as livestock, vehicles or buildings. Alternative sources of farm finance include commercial crop contracting, partnerships and joint ventures or government backed loans.
All these financing models have shown some promise in Zimbabwe in recent years, with <a href="https://zimbabweland.wordpress.com/2017/05/01/tobacco-and-contract-farming-in-zimbabwe/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">crop contracting</a> at the core of the smallholder tobacco production success story. Contracting arrangements are also extending to <a href="https://zimbabweland.wordpress.com/2015/02/23/a-hot-commercial-success-growing-chili-in-the-eastern-highlands/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">other crops</a>. Joint ventures, including partnerships with <a href="http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2017-03/16/c_136134217.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Chinese investors</a> and <a href="https://frontera.net/news/africa/what-mnangagwa-needs-to-deliver-inauguration-promise-to-resurrect-zimbabwes-economy/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">former commercial farmers</a>, have also been emerging in a number of under-capitalised medium-scale farms.
“Command agriculture” &#8211; a public-private input supply scheme &#8211; has been a flagship project led by the new president and the military. It has helped to revitalise maize and wheat production, especially on larger farms with irrigation infrastructure. Questions are however raised about <a href="https://zimbabweland.wordpress.com/2017/09/25/command-agriculture-and-the-politics-of-subsidies/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">longer-term sustainability</a> of such subsidised financing.​
<h2>Sustainability is key</h2>
Getting a new land administration system working is a huge task. <a href="https://zimbabweland.wordpress.com/2017/07/17/a-new-land-administration-system-for-zimbabwe/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">All the elements have to work together</a> – from audit to valuation to compensation to dispute resolution to issuing land tenure documentation to financing – and back again.
And this is not just a one-off task to resolve the current mess. Land disputes will continue, audits will need to be repeated, and new leases and permits and sources of finance secured. For this reason any new system must be sustainable, both administratively and financially, and not reliant on external donor finance. Taxes, rents and compensation repayments need to be paid back into a land fund, which in turn supports the system for the long-term.
Testing this all out at a district level before rapidly rolling it out across the country is an urgent task for Zimbabwe’s new <a href="http://www.herald.co.zw/president-appoints-state-land-commission/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Land Commission</a>. Elaborating a new land administration system is long overdue. Such a system will help the country get over the post-land reform impasse, resolving outstanding land issues and getting much-needed investment flowing into the agriculture sector.
Only with this working well – as countries in <a href="https://zimbabweland.wordpress.com/2017/11/27/the-path-to-prosperity-starts-with-land-reform-says-the-economist/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">East Asia</a> recognised when they undertook land reforms decades ago &#8211; will the full benefits of Zimbabwe’s land reform be realised. &#8211; Written by <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/ian-scoones-117123" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ian Scoones</a>, Professorial Fellow, Institute of Development Studies, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-sussex-1218" target="_blank" rel="noopener">University of Sussex</a>
This article was originally published on <a href="http://theconversation.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a>.

Zimbabwe urgently needs a new land administration system

John D. Rockefeller said the secret of success is to “get up early, work late and strike oil.” Uganda has struck oil; around 6.5 billion barrels are scheduled for commercial production in 2020. This drive towards production, which government estimates will attract investment of up to $8 billion, has raised the prospect of increased demand for auxiliary services, including insurance.
“An oil and gas co-insurance syndicate has been established to pool the industry’s technical and financial capacity thereby better positioning us to underwrite oil and gas risks,” says Miriam Magala, Chief Executive Officer at industry lobby, Uganda Insurers Association. “In addition, the syndicate is serving as a capital pooling mechanism.”
Insurance companies in Uganda held around $177 million worth of gross written premium in 2016, up by 3.6% from the previous year, according to the Insurance Regulatory Authority of Uganda (IRA). But this compares poorly with average growth of 17% in the last five years, even as assets increased by 9.3% to $114 million, says Kaddunabbi Ibrahim Lubega, the IRA’s Chief Executive Officer. The market paid $72.8 million in claims, while life insurance registered the most growth at 32.7% in sum assured.
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/focus/2017/09/18/africa-ditch-ubuntu/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Should Africa Ditch Ubuntu?</a>
Premium growth will likely more than double to 8% this year, according to Magala, on increased regulatory enforcement of workers compensation, motor third-party, ring-fencing of marine insurance, and implementation of a $1.4-million government subsidy for agriculture insurance. The industry expects penetration to increase from just less than 1% of GDP to 3% by 2025, she adds.
“We expect a stimulus effect from large public investments intended to address infrastructure constraints and prepare Uganda for oil production,” says Lubega. “In readiness of the market, an oil and gas syndicate on a co-insurance basis was approved.”
As prospects increase, two of the continent’s largest reinsurers, Africa Re and Zep Re, have set up offices in the capital, Kampala, as they seek to tap cessions emerging from the oil and gas sector.
In anticipation of increased activity, the government pushed reforms through parliament last year to improve the financial system, introducing risk-based supervision where an insurer’s capital requirement will be automatically adjusted – depending on the risk they are carrying. The amendments also covered compliance with insurance core principles and financial action task force (FAFT) regulations, according to a ministry of finance report, which also notes that the amendments also improved harmonization with the East African Community bloc requirements.
A separate amendment also introduced bancassurance, a distribution channel that is expected to promote growth of the sector due to the vast bank network in the country, says Lubega.
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/politics/2017/06/05/agriculture-behind-africas-health/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Agriculture Behind Africa&#8217;s Health</a>
In agriculture, the insurers lobby estimates companies will underwrite $2.3 million in the next six months, before applying the government subsidy, as the pilot scheme looks to guarantee returns from crop and livestock farming, according to Finance Minister Matia Kasaija.
Insurers needed to work closer with farmers to understand different crop varieties and planting windows in order to reduce commercial premium rates. Corn is covered as high as 23.9% versus a 10% average affordable to farmers, according to Shadreck Mapfumo, the International Finance Corporation’s Senior Financial Specialist.
“I don’t think we are ready to provide sustainable agriculture through insurance when we don’t have the man power,” he told an industry conference, in Kampala, in May.
According to Magala, other areas of opportunity include a new requirement to check for motor third party insurance as part of the mandatory vehicle inspection checks, which should see compliance boosting premiums. The government has also made it mandatory that policies on ships, aircraft and other vehicles registered in Uganda – as well as goods imported from other countries – be issued by locally licensed insurers in Uganda. Unlike many countries, the Ugandan government does not insure its assets. If it did it would see a windfall in excess of $27.5 million covering public sector workers compensation, fire and public liability insurance, says Kasaija.
Despite low insurance penetration in Africa, analysts remain bullish on Uganda.
“Foreign investors are interested in Uganda due to the positive growth trend and favorable business environment,” says Arthur Kamp, Investment Economist at Sanlam Investment Management. “Uganda is going to exceed Kenya in terms of total population numbers by 2040. Population growth is an indicator of development.”
Ugandan insurers are taking note. &#8211; Written by Joseph Burite

Oil And Farming A Boon For Insurers

Ramen noodles in Sweden, wheat bread in Tanzania and Chilean wines in China. The cross-Atlantic transit of the potato and the tomato from the Andes to Europe, and back again as French fries and pasta sauce. We think of the world as globalised and sophisticated in its food tastes, and our palettes as curious and ever-expanding. Food spreads cultural acceptance and understanding.
But the spread of food also exposes a darker underlying history of globalisation and industrialisation. Patterns in the way that food is distributed around the world follow colonial-industrial trends from the past. And while global trade has helped lift many out of poverty, it has not done so evenly. It has kept a colonialist imprint on the planet in a different way: with differentiated access to nutritious food and the rise of obesity and other food-related health problems.
Beyond adding unusual grains or fancy foods to their palettes, wealthy shoppers might have their pick of green beans imported from Kenya to the UK, or <a href="http://www.hcn.org/issues/48.3/a-dry-future-weighs-heavy-on-california-agriculture" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">beef and grains grown in Uruguay by US farmers</a>.
Meanwhile, eaters in developing countries are more likely to eat “exotic” foods like white bread, maize or rice. These are less nutritious because of the way in which they are processed. In addition, exotic food crops tend to require unsustainable farming practices, like using more water in places where it’s already a scarce resource.
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/focus/2015/02/01/food-new-oil/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Food The New Oil</a>
To escape these patterns, a new way of engaging with the complexity of food systems is needed. We need to adopt an approach that recognises that challenges are systemic and that they can’t be solved with silver bullet solutions.
A more systemic approach could help shift the global food system because it recognises that food production must become more environmentally sustainable and must be designed in a way that meets the needs of the world’s people in an equitable and just manner.
Understanding the food system as a complex system with interlinking social and ecological aspects is an important step that <a href="http://www0.sun.ac.za/cst/project/guidance-for-resilience-in-the-anthropocene-investments-for-development-graid/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">resilience thinking</a> brings to the table of food system governance.
<h2>Colonial roots</h2>
Like many problems in the global South, the global food system issues can be traced back to a colonial history. Back in 1989 two sociologists, Harriet Friedmann and Philip McMichael, developed a useful concept in their work on agrarian studies: <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1467-9523.1989.tb00360.x/abstract" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">global food regimes</a>. They described two key periods where the structure of the global food system enabled the uptake of Western-style capitalism and consumerism. The diasporic-colonial food regime of 1870–1914 and the mercantile-industrial food regime of 1947–1973. <a href="http://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/abs/10.1016/S1057-1922%2805%2911009-9" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Friedmann</a> went on to describe a potential third regime that we might find ourselves in now: the corporate-environmental regime.
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/focus/2014/09/01/pay-nose-food/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Why We Pay Through The Nose For Food</a>
The <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1467-9523.1989.tb00360.x/abstract" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">first food regime</a> is defined by food imports to Europe from the colonies. That would include basic grains and livestock from the settler colonies, most notably to Australia, Canada, and the US, and tropical imports from the rest of the occupied colonies.
The second food regime rerouted food from the US “to its informal empire of postcolonial states on strategic perimeters of <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10460-009-9218-5" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the Cold War”</a>. It was framed as a development project that had a suite of interventions like food aid, green revolution technologies, and chemical fertilisers and pesticides, and the extension of international markets into the countryside.
<a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10460-009-9218-5" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">At the same time</a>, a division of agricultural labour evolved at the international scale: cheap labour in the former colonies facilitated the flow of commodities across national borders, from poorer to richer countries. &#8211; Written by <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/laura-pereira-321109" target="_blank" rel="author noopener noreferrer">Laura Pereira</a>, Researcher/Lecturer at the Centre for Complex Systems in Transition, Stellenbosch University 
Originally published in <a href="https://theconversation.com/africa" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Conversation</a>
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Rotten Food,  Rotten Strike

The global food system still benefits the rich at the expense of the poor

Over the past two decades, Nigeria’s once thriving agriculture suffered as its oil industry boomed.
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) estimates that, between 1962 and 1968, Nigeria&#8217;s major foreign exchange earner was the agricultural sector. Palm oil and groundnuts made up around 47% of the country’s exports. However, Nigeria’s position as an agricultural powerhouse has declined as oil gained prominence in Africa’s largest economy.
“The oil sector represents 10% of the gross domestic product (GDP) of Nigeria but accounts for 98% of the foreign exchange earnings of the country and 80% of the revenues for the government,” says the President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Akinwumi Adesina.
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/focus/2016/05/01/farmer-marathon-man-businessman/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Farmer. Marathon Man. Businessman</a>
Following the crash in crude oil prices, agriculture is slowly emerging as a remedy for the economic woes of Nigeria.
“We have to provide counter cyclical reports. Nigeria is too big to fail. We will support Nigeria with a $1-billion support program and a number of policy reforms that have to be done to rejig the economy and we have coordinated with others on this. This is actually a cheap source of financing, which will come with a 1.2% interest and a 40-year moratorium, so this is the cheapest source of financing you can get,” says Adesina.
The AfDB and other governmental agencies are pulling together to attract young entrepreneurs to farming once again. Rotimi Williams, a rice farmer, believes Nigerians need to be convinced that agriculture is a viable path to relieve current economic woes.
“The minute we found oil in the 70s, all our attention shifted from agriculture to oil and gas – it was easier for the government to make money from that. We became an importing nation because we didn’t have to do any work; we just had to pick finished goods from other countries. That is one of the reasons why there was a shift and now we are finding it difficult to shift back to agriculture because it needs a complete reorientation of the mindset here,” he says.
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/focus/2015/03/01/farming-coming-town-near/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Farming Coming To A Town Near You</a>
Williams is the founder of Kereksuk Rice Farms. He has 45,000 hectares of land in Tunga, local government in Nasarawa state, close to Abuja.
“We are operating on 1,000 hectares which is expected to give us 8,000 tons of rice a year. I say expected because ideally I should be doing two crops a year but because of floods, which happen every September, I am only doing one crop. Government is yet to build appropriate dams in the right places. We have no accessible roads, no electricity and we have security issues, so all these things put together limits what we can and cannot do in agriculture,” he says.
Williams is not the only one who believes in shifting the way Nigerians think about farming.
“People first of all need to believe in themselves. The ‘I can do’ spirit must come up in you or else you will be wasting time. People must believe that once the passion is right, nothing is impossible and this is their time to realize their greatness. So we launched the Dakada campaign, which is entrenched into the main core values of our people,” says the Governor of Akwa State, Udom Gabriel Emmanuel.
“Through this process, we realized that a lot of the youth are interested in agriculture, so we said ‘fine, we are not going to give you money but we are going to give you all the resources and facilities to do what you need to do’. So we try to provide not just the environment but the input as well,” says Emmanuel.
According to Antti Ritvonen, CEO and Country Manager at Dizengoff West Africa (Nigeria) Ltd, “The main reasons why the youth are not farming are they have the wrong perception about farming, lack of technical know-how, lack of precise technical support and inadequate financial will power,” says Antti Ritvonen, CEO and Country Manager at Dizengoff West Africa.
Dizengoff claims to provide opportunities to Nigerians looking to move into farming.
“We provide greenhouses that we deploy as a tool for empowering youth and women across Nigeria. Since we started, our greenhouses have created employment for over 50 youths directly and over 700 people indirectly across the country, so agriculture is certainly a driver of economic change and growth,” says Ritvonen.
But they are not the only international company investing in the agriculture sector in Nigeria. According to Reuters, Old Mutual and Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) joined forces to raise $200 million to spend on agriculture projects in the country.
There is, however, a limitation to how successful agriculture can become in Nigeria: land. According to the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD), about 95% of agricultural lands are not titled, effectively limiting their capacity to be treated as collateral for finance.
“In most developing countries that thrive in agriculture, like Thailand and India, the government gives them funding… but on the books of the government they write those loans off. This means they don’t expect the money back but they expect you to do a lot more with the money they have given you. In Nigeria, the government expects you to go to commercial banks to get funding and that is not going to fly because they require collateral which any young entrepreneur would not have. You need to create that enabling environment, which means land is easily accessible and the resources are also available for them to be able to thrive in the business,” says Williams.
As agriculture slowly becomes a beacon of hope for job creation and revenue generation, the government will need to spend more to help entrepreneurs get their hands dirty and grow.

Can Farming Ease Nigeria’s Woes?

For over 15 years, I’ve raised money for, invested in, and advised the management of African companies. I’ve worked in sectors as diverse as transportation, agriculture and manufacturing. I’m an advocate for Africa, but I’ve learned some painful lessons along the way.
When I first started operating in Africa it reminded me of a Salvador Dali painting where everything warped and melted into each other. The turmoil wasn’t entirely unexpected though. I had read the negative press over the years: government corruption, widespread poverty, hunger and the aggressive tumors that would metastasize into Al Shabaab and Boko Haram. Even as someone who grew up in New York, doing business in Africa scared me. On Wall Street, Africa was categorized as an “exotic” market; erratic and unpredictable with a disproportionate risk/reward ratio.
You could win really big if you were smart and lose even more if you were unprepared. That was the opportunity. In those days, most emerging markets bankers in the United States (US) would only look at deals in some of the more popular countries, like Brazil or China. But Africa? An investment in Africa would have had many of the so-called experts rolling their eyes at you. The reality was that most folks on Wall Street could barely name five countries there. Asking them to find Djibouti on a map was like asking them to find the hair they had on their head 20 years earlier. That’s when I realized that operating there would differentiate me from everyone else. I was either going to be very right or very wrong. Surely, I thought, if I could operate in New York I could easily do business in Kenya or South Africa. Right?
Wrong.
In the early days, we just couldn’t get it right. As naïve Americans, we were culturally blind toward Africa. It slowly started to occur to us that Africans were unique, depending on the country they were from. Because of our naivety, we were ill-equipped to do business there. Almost every one of our early deals collapsed. Every conversation was misread. Everything we thought would happen, didn’t. And getting paid was as easy as trying to tie your shoes with your teeth.
As time passed, we gradually began to make progress. We congratulated ourselves on finally figuring out the “science” of doing business in Africa. We convinced ourselves that we had arrived – we hadn’t. Closing new debt and equity investments was almost impossible and we continued to struggle and question our methodologies.
Then the epiphany occurred. What dawned on us was that doing business in Africa is not a science, it’s an art.
The African market is full of abstractions and contradictions. It was nearly impossible to create an investment thesis or structure a capital raise like we did in New York. Projecting cash flows and investment returns was like shooting at a moving target. The traditional rules of investing didn’t apply in Africa. It became clear that, if you wanted to do business on the continent, it is more about the people than the transaction. Relationships and trust needs to be developed.
As they say, when in Rome, do as the Romans do. So that’s what we did, except we did it in Africa. We started to adapt our thinking so we were seeing things through an African lens, not an American one. Though it may sound counter intuitive, my African education didn’t come from doing deals there or looking at income statements and balance sheets. It came from dealing with the people – one on one. But not as corporate executives or managers or board members, just as people.
There are a few truths that I Iearned on the continent over the years. In Africa things move slowly, very slowly. What you see is never what you get, you need to adjust as you go. Be ready to negotiate, and renegotiate. Remember, you are an outsider and are in their house. The world you come from and how you do things doesn’t matter. Lastly, respect their diverse cultures.
Africa is a complex continent full of idiosyncrasies most westerners don’t understand. But should you be bold enough to bring your business there remember this essential lesson: when in Africa, do as the Africans do.

Business In Africa Is An Art Not Science

As revenue dwindles from Nigeria’s foreign exchange reserves, calls for the government to find alternative export revenue sources have never been as loud. A return to agriculture, once the biggest industry before the oil boom of the seventies, has been touted as the most viable solution. Mining has come to the fore as another potential revenue earner, though the drop in global commodity prices will have a bearing on investor appetite.
These alternatives can generate significant revenue for the nation but, as seen with oil, a robust and watertight system will be required to ensure that all revenue from mining is redeployed into states where there is mining activity.
There are many factors that have prevented mining in Nigeria being considered a real growth earner. Whereas Nigeria’s oil is internationally recognized, the grade and quality of the country’s minerals are not recognized as meeting international standards. This has led to questionable practices being carried out by miners and traders to ensure that they make a profit on their substandard material. Furthermore, testing centers and labs are few and far between, diluting the viability of finding a buyer.
The recently installed Minister of Solid Minerals and Mining, Kayode Fayemi, has already begun to develop strategies to ensure the development of the sector is maintained from federal to artisanal level. The fragmented nature of the mining sector in Nigeria allows for local cartels to take advantage of what is seen by many as a hostile business. Due to the lack of legislation, locals prefer to sell ores for quick gains to foreign buyers, rather than dealing with the bans and restrictions that come with the legal channels. Foreign buyers are able to get more for their money by capitalizing on the porous laws. The government in Congo is aware that the trace minerals, associated with the ores, amount to something valuable and have made it illegal to export them.
Confidence precedes investment and, with the global mining sector experiencing a downturn, the lack of protection given to mining in Nigeria risks deterring potential investors. Abundant natural resources should be a gift, not a curse. The lack of policy presents an opportunity for the ministry to develop the legislation that governs the sector. This will give confidence to mining companies who want to invest in a robust system. As with the Local Content Act in the oil and gas sector, there are policies that can protect the mining sector to keep the wealth in Nigeria. A ban on importing raw materials that could be mined in Nigeria is a start.
Today, a lot of Nigeria’s mining is at artisanal level. A workforce is usually made up of locals from surrounding villages. Armed with a spade, they get to work using crude techniques to extract the ore. This exposes toxins, leading to poor health and damage to the environment.
When visiting a mine, it is not uncommon to see the landscape punctuated by parcels of land ransacked for their minerals. In countries where mining is prominent, there is a synergistic approach with environmental and mining ministries working together to ensure that the environment and surrounding communities are not negatively affected by the excavation.
Unofficial tax collectors are also known to plague the routes on which the mined material is transported. While  companies have come to expect this in Africa, business will increase if this practice is eradicated in Nigeria. The mining ministry must engage with states and local governments to ensure that royalties and taxes reach federal accounts. With idiosyncratic systems catering to minorities, the fact that no major international mining companies are established in Nigeria is indicative of the lack of confidence they have in the country’s mining sector.
The general perception among Nigerians is that Minister Fayemi has the skills and intellect to successfully navigate his challenging post. During his term as Governor of Ekiti State, he attracted international finance. He is now expected to be just as bullish in Nigeria’s potentially lucrative mining sector.

Natural Resources A Gift Not A Curse

In 1967, there was growing divergence between two parts of Nigeria. Biafra, a secessionist state in south eastern Nigeria, at the time represented the nationalist aspirations of the Igbo people, whose leadership felt they could no longer coexist with the federal government. The desire for a separate state led to up to 30,000 Igbos being killed and around a million refugees fleeing to their homeland in the east. Anambra, the eighth most populated state of Nigeria, provided the base for dangerous relief flights loaded with food and supplies for the war-torn Biafran population. The area was also home to Cosmas Maduka, who was only six years old at the height of the civil war.
“We had a bunker outside our house which we ran into during times where the military opened fire and dropped bombs with their fighter jets. We did not know whether we were going to survive to see the following day,”
says Maduka.
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Once, while on his way to the market, soldiers opened fire, killing a large number of civilians. Maduka narrowly escaped. In a bid to protect her children, Maduka’s mother sent him away to live with his grandparents before he later embarked on the journey that would see him become one of the most successful entrepreneurs in Nigeria.
Maduka is the President and Chairman of Coscharis Group, franchise holders of over eight automobile brands and one of the largest distributors of spare car parts in Nigeria. The company also has interests in real estate, banking, technology, medical equipment, petrochemicals, elevators and agriculture.
Like his early childhood, getting his business to this point has been tough. While talking to FORBES AFRICA in his gigantic dealership, which houses over 300 luxury car brands, he is quick to credit someone else for
his success.
“My mother was the lady who inspired me to greatness. At a young age in my life, she looked at me and told me I am going to be successful. She said people will always like me and people will struggle to say no to me,” says Maduka.
It’s easy to see why. He is composed as he sports his trademark Jesus broche. He has a quiet confidence about him without being arrogant. His mother’s “indoctrination” would later be the impetus he needed to turn N200 ($1) into a $500-million conglomerate.
On average the company sells more than 400 cars per month with prices around N150 million ($752,787) for the top end of its luxury fleet, which includes Rolls Royce, BMW, Jaguar, Range Rover and Ford. This year, the company partnered with Ford to build one of the largest manufacturing plants on the continent for its pickup trucks.
Coscharis’ medical supplies business represents GE Healthcare, Philips and Siemens in Nigeria. Coscharis also holds the number two position in the ICT market through its own brand, Coscharis Technologies Limited, and their pool of partners which includes HP, Microsoft and Lenovo. Coscharis Technologies provides hardware and software applications to organizations.
Maduka’s success is all the more remarkable when you consider he lost his father when he was a toddler.
“The best I knew of my father was the day I saw a man lying lifelessly in a suit&#8230; It was like a festival, people were exceptionally kind to me that day and whatever I asked for, I got,” he says.
The four-year-old Maduka didn’t know it was his father’s funeral. The celebrations ceased immediately after this day. Maduka started street hawking to provide for his family. Every morning at 5AM, Maduka would wake up to sell bean cakes with his older brother, Pius, to generate money for the family. True to his mother’s prophecies, Maduka was a better salesman than his brother. As a result, his mother, who could no longer afford the tuition fees for both brothers, took Maduka out of school at the age of six.
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At the age of seven and no longer attending school, Maduka was sent to live with his uncle and serve as an apprentice selling motorcycle parts. It was not a conventional apprenticeship. Firstly, Maduka worked for seven years without pay. Secondly, the shop floor that Maduka traded on during the day would be transformed into his bedroom at night. He would wake up early in the morning to have his shower on the street before customers arrived and then proceed to manage the shop by himself with occasional supervision from his uncle.
In most countries, these conditions would constitute some form of breach of child labor laws. Maduka has a different take on the experience.
“I believe this was the best university any young man can go to because it was a system where there was no contractual agreement. If you did not behave yourself, you were sent back home to the village, but if you performed, your master would give you start-up capital for your own business at the end of your apprenticeship,” he says.
By the fifth year of his apprenticeship at the age of 13, Maduka had already proven that he had what it took to run a business on his own and was consequently placed in a new branch to manage. In Nigeria, as with many African countries, entrepreneurs are trained by trade schools, craft centers and vocational institutes. Proprietors in the small-scale industries also offer training programs based on an apprenticeship system. Whereas the government-established institutions are formal, apprenticeship training in the private sector is often informal. In lieu of this, there is an ongoing debate as to which system yields the best results. Maduka favors apprenticeship.
“I believe apprenticeship is the best university to go to. If you give a formally educated person N1 million and an apprentice N100, 000, I believe in five years, the apprentice will be able to catch up to the university student and overtake him,” he says.
Maduka learned everything about the automotive components industry outside the classroom. He learned about the internal combustion of an engine, carburettors and centrifugal regulators. He also discovered how to provide the best service to clients and where to go to get the best deals as a reseller.
He understood the power of building a trustworthy reputation with your buyers. He knew about cost price and profit margins and ensured the shop was always stocked with the products the customers often needed. That learning process ended when, due to his newly found Christian faith, Maduka closed his uncle’s store so he could fast for three days. He was immediately fired and, to Maduka’s surprise, his severance package after seven years of hard work was less than a mere $400.
“I looked at my uncle in the face and said to him I deserve something better than this, five years from now, you will regret making this decision,” says Maduka.
Adversity is a constant companion for entrepreneurs, but the successful ones learn to push through tough times. Maduka outlined three key targets for himself after being dismissed by his uncle.
“I wanted to get married before I turned 20, have children by 22 and become a millionaire by 24,” he says.
Maduka immediately put his plan into action. He formed a new company, with his brother, called Maduka Brothers, continuing to trade in automobile parts. The pair sourced parts from Lagos and resold them in eastern Nigeria. In just under a year, the brothers went their separate ways due to differing opinions on how the business’ money should be spent. After the split, the siblings became competitors with automotive shops across the road from each other. However, the apprenticeship experience Maduka had gave him an advantage over his brother.
“In business, knowing where to buy is just as important as selling. You need to buy well to sell well and I had a good relationship with all the major wholesalers,” says Maduka.
He used his relationship with large wholesalers to get his supplies at a competitive rate. Within a week, Maduka was selling enough components to get himself a three-bedroom apartment – by the age of 17. With the apartment secured, Maduka set the groundwork to achieve his first goal. At the age of 18, he met a woman who would become integral to the Coscharis empire.
“Her name was Charity and we met in church. I immediately knew she was the one. I asked for her hand in marriage and, after thinking about it for some time, she accepted.”
Maduka got married at the age of 19 and made his first million, as predicted, by the age of 24. The name of his company, Coscharis, was born by combining his name, Cosmas, and the name of the second woman he credits with all his success, Charity. Today, the group has more than 26 branches nationwide, with a presence in Ghana, Gabon and Côte d’Ivoire.
The automobile business of Coscharis Group started in 1983 when the company was incorporated with the business of importation and distribution of automotive parts and accessories of Japanese vehicles. The decision to incorporate the car business provided the breakthrough Coscharis Group needed. At a time where many businesses were choosing to remain sole proprietorships to avoid the bureaucracy and complex framework of a limited company, Maduka decided to break convention. That decision paid off.
“In 1983, the federal government of Nigeria decided to give import licenses only to motor companies and, because I had incorporated Coscharis, they placed me among multinationals like Leventis, even though it was only me and my wife,” says Maduka.
The import licenses granted to Coscharis was crucial. The Nigerian economy back then was dependent on external sources. By 1980, imports had reached a level equivalent to a quarter of the GDP. The federal government deficits had increased from $1.5 million in 1970 to $17.6 million in 1978. Nigeria’s total outstanding debt had reached the $2 billion mark by 1980. These dire economic conditions presented an opportunity for Maduka in a climate where other businesses were closing.
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“It was a seller’s market then because there was scarcity of products. In every difficult situation, an entrepreneur knows that his destiny is not in the hands of his state but in his own hands, he creates his own opportunities,” he says.
Maduka was making margins as high as 200% during this time. The import license gave him protection against the military-run government’s scrutiny and he was able to capitalize on this to grow his business. Maduka had a clear vision for his company from the onset. In the early seventies, the Nigerian motor industry had a lot of major players. Coscharis had to find a way to differentiate itself.
“Leventis was one of the foremost automobile sellers, followed by Mandilas, who were known for their excellent service. We also had some Peugeot dealers&#8230; By the eighties, almost all these companies collapsed and cars were being sold under trees with no service centers.”
Coscharis was responsible for revolutionizing the automobile industry in Nigeria by building showrooms fully equipped with in-house service centers. A second factor for Coscharis was its philosophy towards its employees. Being an entrepreneur at heart, Maduka only hired individuals with strong business acumen to ensure that the culture of innovation and competitiveness continued with the group. Maduka credits this strategy for the success of the group. The company currently has more than N50 billion ($250 million) in shareholder funds, generated in just under 40 years.
Overcoming adversity has always been one of Maduka’s strengths. Four years ago, he was faced with a scandal that threatened to scupper everything he had worked so hard for. In what he considers his worst day in business, Maduka was left with a devastating financial burden of N22.4 billion ($113 million) when he secured a loan for a business associate. At the time, Maduka was on the board, and owned a 25% equity stake, of Access Bank. He was approached by Ifeanyi Uba, the CEO of Capital Oil, for a loan to import petroleum premium spirit. After sympathizing with Ifeanyi’s inability to raise capital to save his business, Maduka took a calculated risk.
“I have never defaulted on any loans. Every bank works with Coscharis at an open credit and we are one of the few companies in Nigeria who have that relationship due to our strong financial position,” says Maduka.
He guaranteed the loan of $278 million for Ifeanyi to secure his goods, which was never repaid. In what was a huge scandal at the time, Coscharis had to repay the debt.
“I don’t think even Bill Gates can walk away from $150 million without it having an effect on him,” says Maduka.
Fortunately, the investments the organization had already made were enough to absorb the heavy shock.
Today, there is a new strategy in place. Maduka has set his organization the target of turning over a billion dollars in the next five years. Ever the entrepreneur, he has identified key sectors to help him achieve this goal. One of these is agriculture.
“Nigeria spent over $3 billion to import rice; almost 90 percent of Nigerians eat rice and we see an opportunity to create a billion-dollar business in rice over the next three years,” he says.
The current government supports Maduka’s decision and has made attempts to curb the importation of rice by raising the duty of the crop to 100%. Coscharis has acquired more than 3,000 hectares of land in Anambra State and is due to harvest the first batch.
These days, life is very different for Maduka. He has six children, two of whom are involved in the Coscharis Group. His family might not exist, however, if it was up to Charity’s uncle.
“When I told her family about my intentions to marry Charity, her uncle was so annoyed he got his gun and shot at me,” says Maduka. Luckily, he missed.
He is a firm believer in each one of his children receiving a Nigerian education before progressing to the classrooms of the United States. This way none of the children will forget their roots.
Maduka is passionate about the potential in Africa’s largest economy.
“Ten years ago, the Dangote you see today was not the same back then. The government showed goodwill and supported Dangote and today Nigeria will be a net exporter of cement instead of being an importer. Vodacom came into Nigeria and left, and now they are trying hard to return to the market without any success. A subsidiary company of a South African independent company, MTN Nigeria, has more turnover than its parent company. The potential in the Nigerian market is untapped. Saudi Arabia is selling over 150,000 units of Ford with a small population.”
“If we unleash the potential of this industry, and the government handles corruption, the true potential of this market will be unmatched anywhere in the world.”
If Nigeria does reach this potential, Maduka will be on hand to make the most out of it.

DSC8634

The $500-Million Survivor

We called it. Nigeria, the African Development Bank’s (AfDB), biggest shareholder, finally landed the bank’s presidency at its fourth attempt.
Final figures showed Akinwumi Adesina, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development in the administration of former president, Goodluck Jonathan, was backed by 58.01% of all shareholders, to defeat Chad’s finance minister, Kordje Bedoumra (34.48%), and Cape Verde’s finance minister, Cristina Duarte (2.87%).
Africa’s largest country, which holds 9.3% of the AfDB, almost double the total of the next two biggest African shareholders, had failed on three previous attempts to capture the presidency of the bank since its inception in 1964, scuttled by an unwritten rule that Africa’s biggest economies shouldn’t vie for big continental positions and the discomfort of smaller nations wary of domination and stronger candidates than its own.
“Today, I have been given a great responsibility,” said Adesina after beating seven other candidates that had contested one of the most open election processes for a global development finance institution that mirrors the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the Asian Development Bank.
“I will be a president for all. I will not let you down.”
In six rounds of voting, in Abidjan, the capital of CÔte d’Ivoire, spanning just over four hours, Nigeria’s alliances proved the more resilient. In the first round, Adesina was second with 26% of the overall vote, trailing Duarte who led by 29.5%, with the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC)-backed Thomas Sakala of Zimbabwe third, with 13.5%. Sierra Leone’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Samura Kamara, whose country holds 0.25%, was eliminated after receiving 0.3%. No figures were available for the latter rounds at the time of going to press.
Adesina takes over Africa’s only triple-A rated development finance institution, which last year increased project funding by 15% to $7.6 billion, largely in infrastructure, adding to the $28 billion poured in the decade to 2014, versus $18 billion in the four decades between 1964 and 2004.
Aside from infrastructure, outgoing president, Donald Kaberuka of Rwanda, also focused on attracting private sector money to the bank, an effort that saw South Africa’s FirstRand and the bank partnering in creating a $200-million fund to boost African trade. The inclusion of women in economic development was also key, as well as continuing efforts to reduce conflict through the bank’s Fragile States initiative.
Both Adesina and Nigeria’s former Finance Minister, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, under whose watch Nigeria supported Adesina, emphasized inclusiveness in the bank’s decision-making process, seeking to allay the fears of marginalization raised by smaller African countries who have now seen the number one and number two economies take leadership of the continent’s foremost institutions after South Africa’s Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma was elected Chairperson of the African Union in 2012 in heavy lobbying African analysts say came at a heavy political price for President Jacob Zuma.
“We will be inclusive in our approach,” Okonjo-Iweala told FORBES AFRICA after Adesina’s victory. “It’s a great 50th anniversary gift from God to the country. We appreciate it and we take the responsibility very seriously. We will not abuse it.”
In his statement to the board of governors in support of his nomination, Adesina said he wanted to help build a competitive and more integrated Africa while ensuring that growth is more inclusive. To achieve this, his strategy combines five key themes including some from the AfDB’s 10-year strategy outlined at the 2014 meetings and the Africa Union’s Agenda 2063.
That seeks an integrated infrastructure program, growing the private sector, creating jobs for women and youth, reviving Africa’s rural economies and pursuing regional integration through transnational infrastructure and the expansion of regional markets.
“Given the bank’s strength and Africa’s needs, the next phase of the AfDB Group is to take development to the nooks and corners of Africa, through inclusive growth that transforms the lives of the urban and rural populations of Africa,” says Adesina.
It is a plan the board of governors of the bank appear to have bought and that will be tested over the next five years, as Africa’s growth shifts from being externally driven to leveraging off the increasing power of African consumers and economies that have made Africa, alongside India, as the only regional nodes of economic expansion in the world this year.

Tag: Agriculture

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