Developing agriculture at scale is a game changer for our continent [Africa] and I want to be part of the journey
By Uche Ogboi (Investor. Ex CEO, Lori Systems. Ex Partner, EchoVC. Ex Citi)
Over the last year, after some rest and rejuvenation, I have spent time working with various companies to support their strategic vision. Some of these include new market expansions, establishment of a holding company and acquisition of multiple subsidiaries across the financial services, technology, energy and food industries. Above all, the sector that has piqued my interest the most is the agriculture sector. Africa is blessed with 60% of the world’s arable land and I am deeply passionate about value creation and transformation of the sector.
I spent time looking at cold chain logistics and the tomato, barley, wheat, pineapple, shea, hibiscus and dairy value chains from the smallholder farmers all the way to offtakers. Developed business plans for a pineapple concentrate plant and vegetable greenhouses and feasibility studies for a cocoa processing plant. So much for taking it easy!
Working with these talented entrepreneurs across these exciting opportunities I started to appreciate the sheer number of mid-sized agribusinesses with great prospects but lacking access and opportunities for institutionalization, scale and funding. For this reason, I am interested in meeting and hopefully working with some of such companies, especially the women-founded ones, to help them achieve these goals.
I truly believe that developing agriculture at scale is a game changer for our continent and I want to be part of the journey.
So if you are one or know any of such companies, please register for a chat with me in the link below:
https://lnkd.in/eSk3ce6p
Massive thanks to Aderonke Eko-Aderinoye for encouraging me to do this. I look forward to helping unlock the significant potential that lies beneath this space!