East African agriculture showcased for Chinese investors (en)
Delegations from four east African countries have travelled to China to seek investment in agriculture as part of a roadshow held by ITC’s Partnership for Investment and Growth in Africa (PIGA) programme.
Around 700 potential Chinese investors gained a better understanding of investment opportunities, policies and incentives in the agriculture sectors of Ethiopia, Kenya, Mozambique and Zambia.
The investment roadshow travelled to Wuhan, Qingdao and Beijing from 13 to 18 April 2019 and was organized in partnership with the China Chamber of Commerce of Foodstuffs and Native Products (CFNA) and the Investment Promotion Center (IPC) of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT).
As many as 90 face-to-face meetings were arranged between the four African delegations and Chinese companies with a strong interest in investing in Africa.
The roadshow provided a platform for the four African countries to promote investment in agriculture and agro-processing – priority sectors for economic development in these countries.
Serious leads
In Wuhan, the roadshow started with an investment promotion roundtable and bilateral meetings with interested companies. In Qingdao, the roadshow was held on the sidelines of the China International Sesame Conference organized by CFNA, which is one of the biggest trade fairs for sesame products in China.
In Beijing, the African delegations attended the China International Dairy Industry Conference. Parallel to these events, the PIGA programme included a dedicated session for investment promotion and another for bilateral investment meetings with Chinese investors.
The promotion session allowed representatives from the investment promotion agencies from the four African countries to introduce their comparative advantage to attract Chinese investment in African agriculture.
‘The roadshow generated serious leads for investment agriculture and agro-processing in the four African countries,’ Mr. Huang Songjun, the director of CCPIT Hubei said.
Mr. Jiang Xuejun, Chief of ITC Asian and Pacific Affairs, added: ‘The PIGA teams in China and in each African countries will be following up on the leads and provide further support to materialize the leads into deals’.
Mr. Emilio Momade Ussene, Manager of Agency for Investment and Export Promotion (APIEX) Mozambique, said: ‘We are really happy to see that many Chinese companies are interested in cooperate with us in nut processing, there are plenty of the opportunities for our further collaboration.’
Mr. Aschalew Tadesse Mecheso, Investment Promotion Director, Ethiopian Investment Commission (EIC), added: ‘The Chinese market is important for Ethiopian sesame producers. This event provided a valuable platform for us to connect with potential investors for value added cooperation.’
