This contract is important because it will provide African-grown products to African communities.— John Akhile Sr, President and CEO, African Trade Group
ATG-Bio Agro Lands contract to provide 30,000 tons of corn to SGMP subsidiary of SOMDIAA
John Akhile Sr, president and CEO of African Trade Group, LLC, announced that ATG-Bio Agro, a joint venture between African Trade Group of Durham, NC and the Republic of Congo and Bio Agro-Business SAS (BAB) of the Republic of Congo, has been contracted to supply 30,000 tons of corn over the next three years to SGMP, a subsidiary of SOMDIAA Group in the Republic of Congo. Under the recent agreement, which has been in development for three years, ATG-Bio Agro will sell 5,000 tons of shucked, raw corn (14% moisture) to SGMP in 2023, 10,000 tons in 2024, and 15,000 tons in 2025. The corn will be grown in Makabana in the Republic of Congo on 4,981 hectares of Bio Agro land, under contract by ATG. There are an additional 2,000 hectares available to ATG under the agreement. Planting will begin in 2023.
“This is a really good start for African Trade Group in the marketplace on the continent,” said Akhile. “This opportunity will give us a chance to showcase American farming expertise. ATG will bring the equipment, technology, and know-how to farm this large parcel of land. We don’t need that much land to produce this amount of corn, so we’re going to grow other commodities for domestic consumption and potentially for export as well. This contract is important because it will provide African-grown products to African communities.” Akhile added, “SGMP has been importing corn, which will be partially offset by the corn supplied by ATG-Bio Agro, going forward. This is a big deal for SGMP and the country. And hopefully, if we do a good enough job, they will not need to import at all. We are delighted to provide materials to a company like SGMP that has the vision of supporting African agri-business and providing essential life commodities and good jobs to African people. We look forward to a long-lasting and mutually fruitful relationship.”
SGMP will use the raw corn to mill flour. SOMDIAA, a 558-million euro privately held company with nearly 10,000 employees, markets agro-food commodities, including a large selection of flours and bakery products, exclusively in Africa among seven territories. Operated by SGMP, the Congo mill is one of eight mills SOMDIAA oversees.
African Trade Group is an African-centric company focused on African trade. Akhile, the author of two books on international trade — “Compensatory Trade Strategy” and “Unleashed: A New Paradigm of African Trade with the World,” is a compensatory trade expert. He structures and manages countertrade arrangements involving multiple countries for public and private sectors.
Established in 2018 and headquartered in Kinshasa, Congo, Bio Agro-Business specializes in agro-industrial exploitation, the supervision of producers in rural areas, and technical, entrepreneurial agricultural training.
For more information about African Trade Group, visit www.africantradegroup.net. For more information about Bio Agro-Business, visit https://www.bab-rdc.com.
