Syngenta to Expand Presence in Africa

Posted by |22 May 2012

BASEL, Switzerland — Syngenta announced plans to build a $1 billion business in Africa over the next 10 years.

“Africa has become one of our strategic growth regions and our aspiration is to contribute to the transformation of African agriculture,” Chief Executive Mike Mack said. “We will deploy our leading portfolio as part of a system-wide approach linking people, land and technology, with the aim of increasing productivity sustainably and thereby reducing poverty.”

Mack, who made the announcement in conjunction with the G8 Summit held in the United States last week, says a number of African governments have taken “encouraging steps” to stimulate investment, and it intends to play a leading role in public-private collaborations. Syngenta will make cumulative investments of more than $500 million on the continent for the recruitment and training of over 700 new employees with a high level of agronomic specialization.

The Big 6 company will also develop distribution channel networks, logistics and local production facilities in collaboration with local partners to increase access to technology for both smallholders and large scale farms. Syngenta’s target is to reach more than 5 million farmers and enable productivity gains of 50% or more over 10 years.

Mack continued: “We can bring the knowledge, tools, technology and services farmers need whatever the size of their field or the type of cropping system. Africa needs a fully integrated approach to crops because there is no single technology solution.”