Here’s the latest in ESM’s regular series, Notes From Africa, which brings you the latest retail, consumer goods, and food-and-beverage stories from across the African continent. Past editions can be found here.
Ghana: Guinness Partners with SNV to Enhance Local Sorghum Sourcing
Guinness Ghana Breweries (GGB Plc), the local subsidiary of drinks giant Diageo, has launched a five-year program in collaboration with the Netherlands Development Organization (SNV) to improve its supply of sorghum to farmers. The new project will run from 2023 to 2028 and, according to the authorities, will help more than 12,500 small-scale farmers produce 72,375 tonnes of sorghum over the period.
The company is currently implementing a procurement programme involving nearly 30,000 producers in Ghana, from whom it purchases 55% of its raw materials, including sorghum, corn, and cassava.
Tanzania: Government to Introduce Online Platform for Coffee Auctions
The Tanzania Coffee Board (TCB) is planning to introduce an online auction system in the near future to boost competitiveness and supply in the sector. Entitled 'Centralised Green Coffee Auctions', this new platform should enable the regulator to modify the current auction routines. Auctions will therefore be moved from a weekly to a daily basis, in order to increase sales and boost producers' incomes.
To promote this new platform, TCB has also decided to organise annual training sessions to raise awareness among local operators before the start of the coffee buying seasons. Tanzania exports over 95% of its coffee production, which stands at around 70,000 tonnes a year.
Morocco: Costa Coffee to Launch five New Locations by September
Costa Coffee has announced that it will launch five new locations in Morocco by the end of the third quarter of 2023. The move will require a total investment of €3 million and will give the company a total of seven outlets in the country.
Costa Coffee opened its first Moroccan outlet in November 2022 and plans to have 30 to 40 cafés within the next five years.
Nigeria: Okomu Oil Palm Reports 41% Growth in Net Profit in 2022
Nigeria's leading palm oil producer, Okomu Oil Palm, has posted a net profit of ₦16.2 billion (€19 million) at the end of its 2022 fiscal year. This represents an increase of 41% from the ₦11.5 billion (€13 million) achieved a year earlier.
The performance was due in particular to a 59% increase in sales, from ₦37.4 billion naira to over ₦59.3 billion naira.
Liberia: €26 Million Poultry Complex to Be Built
In Liberia, €26 million will be invested in the construction of a poultry agro-industrial complex, the Liberia Integrated Egg Farm. It will house an egg production farm, a poultry feed manufacturing unit, an egg packaging unit, a training centre, and other processing units associated with poultry production.
According to the authorities, the new development should boost the local poultry industry, which still only supplies 22% of poultry meat consumption requirements, estimated at 71,000 tonnes by 2021.
Nigeria: Norfund Invests in Cocoa Processing Company
Norwegian investment fund (Norfund) has acquired a $12 million stake in OH Ecosystems Ltd (Eco), which operates a number of cocoa and confectionery processing businesses in Africa. The fund will be used to acquire a majority stake in FTN Cocoa Processors Plc, a company engaged in the processing of cocoa beans into semi-finished products, marketed to local and international customers.
More specifically, the investment will help to modernise FTN Cocoa Processors Plc's operating facilities and extend its scope to the production and sale of additional products in the cocoa supply chain.
© 2023 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest A-brand news. Article by Espoir Olodo. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
