Financing for farmers, transport and logistics providers for the agricultural sector, and rising meals for export to surrounding international locations.
These are among the agribusiness alternatives in northern Nigeria highlighted by Sanusi Ismaila and Surayyah Ahmad Sani, co-founders of enterprise capital agency Aduna Capital, in a latest interview with How we made it in Africa.
“I feel agriculture is certainly a low-hanging fruit by advantage of the truth that a lot of the meals in Nigeria, and far of the meals in neighbouring international locations, comes from northern Nigeria,” mentioned Surayyah.
She emphasised agri-financing – offering farmers with entry to finance – as a possible alternative.
Moreover, she famous substantial untapped potential in transport and logistics for the agricultural worth chain. “We’re presently on the lookout for corporations in [B2B] fleet administration that may transcend northern Nigeria to neighbouring international locations the place these merchandise are being delivered.”
Sanusi recognized agro-processing as a promising space, citing Tomato Jos in Kaduna State, which processes tomatoes into tomato paste and has secured enterprise capital funding.
“There’s an enormous alternative for producing meals for export from Nigeria,” Sanusi noticed. He referred to Veggie Plus, an organization that distributes strawberries and greens like bell peppers throughout Nigeria and is a significant provider for big supermarkets. “I feel most of their enterprise is home. But when I had been to get entangled with that type of enterprise, I feel I might focus all their efforts on exporting. It’s a tricky drawback to crack, however the upside is value pursuing.”
He recalled a previous enterprise the place bell peppers had been exported from Jos to the UK for grocery store chain Tesco, which ceased resulting from growing banditry. Nonetheless, he believes related alternatives nonetheless exist.
Surayyah additionally identified that northern Nigeria’s strategic location positions it nicely to serve neighbouring international locations like Cameroon, Chad, and Niger. This view aligns with that of industrialist Abdul Samad Rabiu, founding father of BUA Group, as expressed in a earlier How we made it in Africa article.
“A part of what we’re is the scalability as a result of we would like corporations that may scale exterior northern Nigeria to different elements of Africa and by extension, globally. However there are a variety of native alternatives in meals processing,” Sanusi added.
Learn our full interview with Sanusi Ismaila and Surayyah Ahmad Sani: Past Lagos – Funding alternatives in northern Nigeria
