Rwanda-based food processing company Africa Improved Foods, which began operations in 2016, is planning to grow its footprint to three more countries on the continent in the next five years. In Rwanda, the company specialising in fortified blended foods boasts of impacting 1.5 million people every day and prides itself in contributing to Rwandan children’s nutrition with its cereal brands Shisha Kibondo and Nootri. In the next five years, Africa Improved Foods will establish factories in Ethiopia, Nigeria, and Zambia and impact more than 10 million people. ALSO READ: Africa Improved Foods wins EAC Quality award 2022 With up to 278 million people in Africa undernourished, 55 million of whom are children under the age of five, the company sees that as an issue that can be solved by putting in place resilient food systems that offer nutritious, affordable products. For Africa Improved Foods’ CEO Ramesh Moochikal, investment in the continent is worthwhile as 23 per cent of the global population will live in Africa by 2050. “We intend to multiply our footprint and then go into other countries in the rest of Africa because the founders’ view is that we should be combating malnutrition on a pan-African basis,” Moochikal said. “In the last six months, we have come up with a very credible five-year plan and the board has approved it. We are currently in the last stages of discussion in raising capital to fund that growth. I expect that in five years’ time, from the one factory we have in Rwanda today, we’ll have one in Ethiopia, one in Nigeria, one in Zambia,” he said. He added that the company will expand its production capacity both in Rwanda and Ethiopia. ALSO READ: Africa Improved Foods eyes regional market- says CEO Currently, the company, which is the largest grain buyer in Rwanda, processes 65,000 tonnes of maize and soya per year, though its installed capacity is 45,000 tonnes – a feat Moochikal attributes to a team that takes ownership of the company’s life. Africa Improved Foods sources maize and soya from about 90,000 smallholder farmers in the country and the region. The company committed a $65 million investment in best-in-class technology. And it pioneered the Cob Sourcing Model, reducing aflatoxin rejections from 90 per cent to less than 5 per cent in 3 years. It employs 500 people, a number that is projected to grow to 2,500 in the next five years. Leveraging Rwanda’s business climate Moochikal, a seasoned business manager who has worked in 28 African countries over three decades, said Africa Improved Foods wants to capitalise on Rwanda’s conducive business environment as it seeks to expand its impact on the continent. “I've been associated with Rwanda since 2008. What I can easily say is that this is, by far, the best environment on the continent to work in. You have policymakers who listen to you and they are intent on helping the private sector succeed,” Moochikal said. A public-private partnership like Africa Improved Foods can succeed when policymakers are willing to help investors and when the regulatory environment is business-friendly, he noted. “The good thing is that we are not here chasing profit, and I think the policymakers appreciate that, because we seek impact and can make a difference for the country, that we are good citizens to have.” The “real challenge” will come when the company expands to the rest of the continent, he said. “But I am confident, given what we have succeeded in doing so far, that we will be able to replicate the success in other countries as well. We will find the right people; we will be able to convince our stakeholders in those countries like we have done here,” he said. Moochikal said he’s hopeful that Africa Improved Foods will find similarly understanding, appreciative policymakers in the other countries. The company looks forward to tapping into its competencies, which are the production of safe, nutritious, and best-value food solutions, quality DNA, and unique strategic partnerships.
