The partner companies represent an additional growth opportunity for APQ Global, which has the right of first refusal to participate in any of their future capital raises.

APQ is delighted to announce the inaugural two members of the Partner Companies Network: DW Agriculture and Alluvial.

DW Agriculture, based in Nigeria’s Cross River State, takes an innovative approach to agribusiness in West Africa.  The central strategy is to mobilise local populations in Nigeria and the wider region to produce important goods that are otherwise imported at higher costs. For example, 90% of dairy products in Nigeria are imported at an annual cost of $1.2bn.  DW Agriculture and Alluvial are focused on resolving major gaps in investment that can lead to attractive margins in the meat, poultry, fish and dairy sectors in view of increased protein demand and low production capacity.

As another example, Nigeria spends $700m annually on imports of fish. DW Agriculture’s flagship aquaculture farm at Songhai in Bunu Tai Rivers State produces 1,000 tons of catfish annually after only its third year of operation.  Additionally, the gradual move from staple production towards high-value horticulture crops is an important contributor to employment opportunities in Africa.  DW Agriculture’s Dimieari Von Kemedi and Wesley Davis are both APQ Global IAC members.

Alluvial is an integrated farm business based in Nigeria that uses the best of modern technology and traditional methods to deliver ecologically and socially sustainable farming that enriches the environment and supports smallholder farming communities. It is an innovative and highly scalable private sector response to the challenge of food security focused initially on the Niger Delta region of the world’s seventh largest country. Managing Director, Dimieari Von Kemedi is an APQ Global IAC member.

Alluvial last month signed a major cooperation agreement with India’s biggest conglomerate, Tata Group, to supply up to 300 John Deere tractors through self-financing lease agreements with individual farmers. Over the next two years these tractors could be used by as many as 100,000 smallholder farmers across 463 square miles. The tractor lease agreement includes both the tractor and a driver as part of an overall package that also covers collective agreements to reduce the cost of seeds and fertilisers and increase the sale price of crops, improving the output and efficiency of small farmers.