The Islamic Republic of Mauritania, the communities of Boghé and African Agriculture to enter an agreement for commercial farming development; phased investment of up to $500mm on expanse of Senegal-Mauritania River valley with potential of over 500,000 hectares of arable land
WASHINGTON, Dec. 19, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- African Agriculture (AAGR), a Delaware domiciled USA company, which operates agricultural projects in Africa, has agreed to a public-private partnership with the Government of Mauritania and the communities of Boghé, (18 agricultural cooperative societies incorporating approximately 6,000 farmers, organized under GIE DYNN), on the Senegal River Valley for a phased commercial farming buildout up to $500mm of investment with potential of over 500,000 hectares of arable land. The initial program will launch with more than 2,000 hectares and an investment of $30mm US$ in its first phase to further the farming of Alfalfa for the purpose of providing superior quality feed for dairy cattle and providing increased agricultural production for the community. The agreement has been signed in conjunction with the visit of His Excellency President Mohamed Cheikh Ghazouani's visit to Washington, DC as part of the US - AfricaLeaders' Summit hosted by the United States Government and President Biden. After full development, the program is expected to have substantial impact on the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Mauritania and permanent job creation.
The private sector investment is anticipated to contribute to employment and economic development directly, and will include a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) program that will enhance the agricultural and agronomy tertiary education at ENFVA (Ecole Nationale de Formation et de Vulgarisation Agricole), an established agricultural education center in the city of Kaédi, and a women's reinsertion program in Mauritania. To drive the performance of this program, it is expected that African Agriculture will bring its agronomy, farming management, capital markets access, commercial and technology expertise and sustainable power generation capability, sustainable water and farming input approach to drive the performance of this project. The Government of Mauritania and its respective local communities will provide the arable land for African Agriculture to scale its primary protein production further for local, regional and export consumption, primarily in the arena of livestock nutrition.
Speaking on behalf of the Mauritanian Government, H.E. Minister Ousmane Mamoudou Kane said: "The Government of Mauritania's new vision for the development of agricultural land assets is based on the need to change the paradigm in terms of management of the agricultural potential to effectively face the many challenges posed by the current global environment, characterized by the post-COVID recession, soaring commodity prices, record inflation rates and the war in Ukraine. The field work, carried out by the technical committee, particularly in the areas of the Senegal River valley, has made it possible to establish a channel for productive dialogue with the local communities who hold the agricultural land heritage, often organized into cooperatives, and thus aroused their support for this new approach initiated by the government. The culmination of this process results in the matching of these communities with potential investors interested in the exploitation and management of the identified blocks; with the required expertise and capital. The approach is bottom up, putting the landowners at the center of the negotiations'table. We are happy to open the door to many more of these agreements for the best interest of our farmers and rural communities."
Former US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Africa and current African Agriculture Director, Ambassador Bisa Williams said, "I am excited by the potential of this project to strengthen local communities in Mauritania and to advance agriculture production in the Sahel, and I am deeply encouraged by the Mauritanian Government's proactive partnership with us."
Speaking on behalf of GIE DYNN, Chairman of the Board, Mr. Ibrahima N'gaidé stated, "Since the Extension of the Pilot Case of Boghé (CPB) in 2017, we have always thought that the pooling of farmers' land and the search for experienced and capitalized partners are the best way of moving from subsistence agriculture. to resolutely engage in commercial scale agriculture for the well-being of the populations and the achievement of our country's objectives in terms of food self-sufficiency and the fight against poverty".
African Agriculture Chairman and CEO Mr. Alan Kessler said, "Food security is a global problem and community involvement is imperative to our business model. We are highly enthusiastic to elevate our commercial farming program that we have implemented in Northern Senegal to the next natural growth area that of the other side of the Senegal River Valley, in southern Mauritania, as we strive to create a global protein source, integrated with the Great Green Wall project in the Sahel. The community involvement here, with production sharing, profit sharing and food security alternatives, will act as a template throughout Mauritania and the African continent, and we will continue to build the program for the development of the local communities, and the Islamic Republic of Mauritania. Given its world class positioning, Mauritania can use this program to meaningfully participate in global farming, and we are honored to be integrated in the development of President Ghazouani and the Honorable Ministry's vision for the development of this vital sector. We appreciate all the effort of the Mauritania Investment Promotion Agency and the United States Ambassador to Mauritania, H.E.Cynthia Kierscht in driving this investment, as we look forward to embracing United States based farming content in the breadth of our operations."
About African Agriculture
African Agriculture is a vegetation-based protein commercial farming platform beginning with Alfalfa for premium dairy and beef cattle animal feed with existing operations in Senegal and Niger. Currently African Agriculture is building a vertically integrated cattle feed operation on 25,000 hectares in Senegal, and in Niger is in the development stages of participating in the primary generation of Carbon Credits via desertification prevention, soil management and afforestation. Scalability for the business is expected beyond Senegal and Niger (semi-arid), to Mauritania, and further into the Sahel and additional sub-tropical areas on the African continent. The US domiciled company has a highly experienced management team in large-scale farming, agronomy, technology, operations and finance with additional, high barrier to entry resources including academia, irrigation, agronomy, finance and machinery, as well as commercial aspects. The corporate goal is to enhance farming productivity yields, and hence boost food security in Africa and globally. African Agriculture announced that it entered into a business combination agreement with New York-based 10X Capital Venture Acquisition Corp II (NASDAQ: VCXA) on November 3, 2022, with expected closing date in the first quarter of 2023, at which point the combined company is expected to be continue to be publicly traded on the Nasdaq stock exchange in New York.
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About the Investment Promotion Agency of Mauritania
The Investment Promotion Agency of Mauritania (APIM) is a public institution in charge of positioning Mauritania as a destination of choice for national and foreign investors. It is placed under the dual technical and financial supervision of the Minister of Economic Affairs and Promotion of Productive Sectors and the Minister of Finance. APIM's mission, in collaboration with the concerned administrations and public and private organizations, is to contribute to the implementation of the national investment promotion policy in order to increase the country's productive capacities, create employment opportunities and thus generate wealth for the well-being and prosperity of its citizens. Press Contact: [email protected]
