Session 2: Agriculture & Agri-Business

A Presentation on Agriculture & Agri-Business Investment A Presentation on Agriculture & Agri-Business Investment Opportunities by Opportunities by

George G. WisnerGeorge G. WisnerExecutive Director Executive Director

National Investment CommissionNational Investment CommissionRepublic of LiberiaRepublic of Liberia

Rubber Processing & Rubberwood Cocoa Aquaculture & Marine Fish Oil Palm Horticulture Rice Cassava Agriculture Value Chain Financing

C VP

C V

CV

PP

P

P

RPF

A

P

R

V

F Marine Fish HubsOil Palm Areas Rubber Processing ClustersVegetable & Rice Hubs

Aquaculture HubsPrime Cocoa AreasC

A P R

R

Lofa Cluster

Nimba

Cluster

Monrovia-Ganta

Belt

P

RR

F

A

A

R

A

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Bomi Cluste

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South East

Cluster

Long standing history in rubber production Liberia searching for industrial investors in rubber compounding & production of dry

rubber products such as door mats, boots, handles, chairs, pipes, bushels & gloves Many medium size farmers investing in ribbed smoked sheets & rubber crepe 63,000t produced in 2013, potential expansion to 325,000t Over 200,000 ha of arable land available: 55% of rubber from small farmers Large unexploited ECOWAS market for ribbed smoked sheets, crepe & rubber products Large unexploited investment opportunity in rubberwood & its products

Cocoa sector in Cote D’Ivoire, Ghana & Nigeria is saturated: Liberia is next frontier for cocoa 90% of cocoa bought by informal traders i.e. potential for investors to improve yields & quality Investor-friendly regulatory framework for cocoa being developed Cocoa yield = 200 kg/ha; potential to increase to 1,000kg/ha Global demand increasing by 6% per year & is worth $4bn. Market for cocoa butter & powder in Liberia is growing by 4% & 2% p.a..

AQUACULTURE•Liberia looking for first industrial investor in aquaculture, to exploit untapped market•Most renewable internal water resources per capita in Africa•Optimal natural water temperature for aquaculture (27o Celsius)• Can produce 330,000 mt of inland fish (current production only 2,500 mt)• Domestic market unsaturated, particularly up-country plus large regional market• Large, untapped business opportunity – particularly as there is currently no competition.

MARINE FISH• With Mt Coffee Dam completed, cheaper to process fish in Liberia vs Nigeria, Senegal, CI. • Liberia’s coastline & continental shelf offers 20,000 sq. km of fishing ground• Only 7,300 mt of marine fish produced locally, while consumption lies at 23,800 mt p.a.• Fish landing, storage & processing facilities being built in Robertsport & Monrovia• Gov’t streamlining tax regime & regulations in sector

Indigenous home of oil palm; produced 176,000 mt 2013 – little of which processed Un-tapped ECOWAS market in oil palm products Perfect place to invest in the processing of crude palm oil into refined oil for cooking,

soaps, cosmetics, food processing, mulch, fertilizer, animal feed & bio-fuel 4 large investors including world leaders Sime Darby & Golden Veroleum Govt & SIDA developing model for outgrower schemes for large concessions Hundreds of small & medium scale farms around country, mostly in rubber belt USAID running support programme of oil palm by developing market for high variety

seedlings among other types of supportOil Palm Profitability, $ per tonne

Potential 40% profit

Ideal for investment in inputs, production, aggregation, packaging & processing. Rainfall of 2,391 mm p.a., compared to 1,348 mm in Ghana or 730 mm in Kenya. Large, growing domestic market, access to ECOWAS & sea access to EU & US markets. In 2013 Liberia produced 291,000 mt worth of fruit & vegetables. Imported 14,300 mt Domestic market alone is worth $103 million p.a. Highest potential: tomatoes, pineapples, mangoes, plantain, banana, sweet potatoes

and chilli pepper (high Scoville Index) Liberia has direct flight access to Brussels, Casablanca, Abidjan & Nairobi

Cassava is an important staple crop in Liberia, can be planted all year Average Liberian can consume 5 times more, making Liberia growth economy for

cassava Scope for market capture through quality & innovation. Use of quality inputs & agro-chemicals limited = large market for input providers. Potential for cassava value addition such as gari, cassava flour, high quality cassava

starches, animal feed, syrup, ethanol, citric acid, sucrose & adhesives Over 80 m tonnes of cassava is consumed every year in ECOWAS. Market growing by

4% p.a. Of this Liberia accounted for 520,000 tonnes.Cassava & Cassava Starch Market Growth

$1.6 bn market

$0.1 bn market

$0.9 bn market

$0.1 bn market

Liberia consumes 570,000 tons of rice per year Of this 55% imported giving scope for investors in efficient, high yield farming (Nerica

variety) & irrigation to capture market share Growth of rice consumption in Liberia: 14.1% p.a. since 2003. Can double yields & triple land harvested: now 230,000 ha but can increase to 600,000 ha Investment opportunities in:

◦ Nerica variety farming planted in irrigated or non-irrigated swamplands◦ Farm inputs and technology, hulling & milling ◦ Processing into high value rice, cereal bars, rice crackers & rice starch. Rice bran sold

as fish feed or processed by pharmaceutical industry.

Rice Profitability, $ per metric tonne

Potential for investors to provide financing for agriculture value chains Liberia has only 1 small agricultural bank - Afriland Gov’t & donors (USAID, IFAD, World Bank, SIDA, EU) applying value chain approach

to these value chains:◦ Rubber processing, rubberwood, oil palm, cocoa, aquaculture, marine fish,

horticulture, rice, cassava, livestock Scope for different types of investors:

◦ Agriculture finance institutions◦ Development finance institutions◦ Philanthropists◦ Social entrepreneurs◦ Cooperative banks◦ Venture capitalists◦ Private Equity◦ Business & Technical Services Providers

NIC has registry of SME investment opportunities in agriculture: Contact Paye Gbelayan

Thank you!

George G. Wisnerwisnergeorge5@gmail.com

NIC Focal Person for Agriculture Investment Inquiries:Paye Gbelayan: payesgbelayan@yahoo.com +231 886897995