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.
Angola: Government Unveils Fish Processing Unit
Angola’s government has commissioned a fish processing unit in Viana, Luanda province. The plant, Atlântico Foods Limitada, has a monthly processing capacity of between 70 and 100 tonnes of fish. It also has a cold storage facility of 1,250 square meters for the conservation of its products. According to reports, the unit is the 15th industrial unit to be established in the fish processing segment in the country.
Sub-Saharan Africa: Nutreco Receives Grant To Build Feed Mills
Dutch company Nutreco, a subsidiary of SHV Group and a global leader in animal nutrition, has just benefited from a $4.8 million (€4.7 million) grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to accelerate the implementation of feed production facilities in sub-Saharan Africa. The grant will primarily fund 21 projects initially in Ghana, Côte d'Ivoire, Nigeria and Uganda. According to Fulco van Lede, the company's CEO, the initiative is expected to help improve local feed value chains and ultimately the profitability of more than 15,000 poultry and dairy farmers.
Nigeria: WinichFarms Raises Funds For Expansion
Nigerian agritech firm WinichFarms has closed a $790,000 seed funding round from Founders Factory Africa and other investor groups. The platform connects farmers directly to buyers, retailers or factories, eliminating middlemen and streamlining the distribution and supply chain of agricultural products. Founded in 2019, WinichFarms has approximately 29,000 producers connected to the platform and has capacity to transport 127 tonnes of produce from farms to end buyers per day.
Namibia: Beef Industry Invests In New Processing Plant
In Namibia, the Beef Value Chain Forum (BVCF) has raised N$146 million, or about €8.6 million, to finance the construction of its processing plant. The unit, Savanna Beef Processors Limited, will be dedicated to exports and aims to increase the livestock processing and strengthen value addition in the sector. According to the BVCF, the mobilisation phase of the remaining funding will be completed by the end of this year. Namibia is the leading producer and exporter of beef on the African continent, but only 25% of the products marketed in 2021 were processed at slaughterhouses.
Zambia: Zambian Breweries To Double Beer Production In Lusaka
Zambian Breweries, Zambia's leading brewer, will is to $80 million to double the beer production capacity of its Lusaka-based plant. The investment will be spread over the next 18 months and will enable the company to strengthen its offer in the growing domestic beer market by the end of 2023. According to officials, the project should support the various programs deployed by the company to source local raw materials such as barley, cassava, corn and sorghum. Last year, the company saw its operating profit jump 730% to 190.2 million kwacha (€11.4 million).
Côte d'Ivoire: JB Foods Commences Construction Of Cocoa Processing Plant
In Côte d'Ivoire, the Singapore-based investment holding company JB Foods Limited has commenced work on a new cocoa processing plant in the PK24-Akoupé Zeudji industrial zone located in the district of Abidjan. With a total cost of 39 billion CFA francs (€59 million), the unit will process 50,000 tonnes of cocoa beans per year into by-products such as cocoa butter, mass and cocoa powder, which will be marketed under the JB Cocoa brand. It should be operational by the last quarter of 2024 and generate 100 direct jobs. It should be noted that this plant is the group's very first on the African continent, with JB Foods having only sourced raw materials in Côte d'Ivoire to date.
© 2022 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.
