News Feed

Agri-Investments in Africa are booming. Large Scale Farming in Africa conference to spotlight on opportunities & challenges

Posted on : 10 Feb, 2010

 

Here’s a round-up of Agri-Investments headlines from Africa over the past 3 months:

 

Mauritius said on January 27 it is seeking investors to buy into a plan to lease farmland in Mozambique to ease growing food security worries on the Indian Ocean Island. Mauritius intends to grow crops such as wheat, rice, pulses, maize, onions and potatoes on mainland Africa. ~ Reuters Africa, 27 Jan

 

A UNITED Arab Emirates (UAE) company is seeking a 98-year lease on vast tracts of farmland in Tanzania to grow rice in order to secure food supplies for the Gulf countries...Gulf countries, mainly reliant on food imports, have increased efforts to buy or lease land in developing nations such as Tanzania to secure food supplies and minimize the impact of food inflation. ~ This Day Tanzania, 25 Jan

 

Sudan wants to attract foreign investors to cultivate vast tracks of land that are currently unused in Africa’s largest country, State Minister for Finance Tarek Shalabi said. “We have millions of acres of land, very flat and unspoiled and it hasn’t really been even explored yet,” said Shalabi, 41, in an interview in the capital, Khartoum. “Sudan is a very good place for agricultural investment.” ~Bloomberg, 17 Dec.

 

It is increasingly evident that Africa's agricultural potential is gaining widespread recognition. As the only continent which was bypassed by the Green Revolution, there are hopes to increase the productivity of Africa’s agriculture sector through investment and off-the-shelf technologies.

 

Ghana, Madagascar, Mali and Ethiopia alone have approved 1.4 million hectares of land allocations to foreign investors since 2004, according to the International Institute for Environment and Development in London. Investors like Ramakrishna Karuturi from Karuturi Global, the world’s largest producer of Roses, have invested in farms in Kenya and Ethiopia. Others like South Africa’s Agricultural union AGRI has recently signed a land deal in Congo.

 

As a matter of fact, the Large Scale Farming in Africa conference, which meets in Cairo on 20-21 April 2010 will see H.E Amin Abaza, Minister of Agriculture and Land Reclamation, Egypt providing insights on Opportunities for agriculture investment in Egypt as well as Ramakrishna Karuturi, Founder & Managing Director- Karuturi Global Ltd share perspectives on the Opportunities and Challenges of Agri-Investments in Africa.

 

The conference will also feature insights from leading Farm & plantation investors/owners, Asset management companies, Investment banks & agricultural Funds Companies.

 

Those keen on attending the Large Scale Farming in Africa conference can submit their registrations online. >>Click here for more information.<<