SEED Co Group has mapped out a robust and aggressive growth strategy anchored on the rapidly growing African population and the continent’s vast tracts of land which will be the backbone of strong agricultural output, the company has projected.
Morgan Nzwere, Seed Co chief executive, told delegates attending the recently held capital markets conference in the United Kingdom that climate change-related factors are contributing to the increasing demand for food across the globe.
The two-day conference began last Thursday at the London Stock Exchange and moved to Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre in the British capital the following day.
It was organised by Financial Markets Indaba, partnered by Bard Santner Markets Inc.
“Africa has the largest arable land resource in the world and the majority of the population depend on agriculture. We expect huge demand for food and stockfeeds in Africa and globally,” Nzwere said.
According to latest United Nations estimates, Africa is home to 1 430 889 282 people. The continent’s population is equivalent to 16.72% of the total world population, which has surpassed eight billion inhabitants.
As the global population grows, the majority of that growth is projected to come from five countries on the African continent.
Last year, Seed Co ran out of stock in Nigeria due to the huge demand that decimated all carry-over stocks.
Seed Co has some seeds that are in the Southern African Development Community catalogue and this enables it to sell the seeds anywhere in the region.
Experts say Africa’s future billionaires and millionaires will make their money from agriculture. According to the African Development Bank, Africa’s agricultural business will be worth US$1 trillion by 2030.
A Botswana and Zimbabwe Stock Exchange dually-listed public company, Seed Co has since the 1940s evolved from being a Zimbabwe-centric company to an entity with a strong presence in the region.
Seed Co became the first company to commercialise the single cross hybrid technology in the world in 1952.
The company also became the first organisation to introduce hybrid culture in smallholder agriculture sector.
In the outlook, the seed company is banking on more US dollar sales in Zimbabwe to get better value for money and increase hard currency earnings. — STAFF WRITER
