The poultry market in West Africa, in general, and in the Ivory Coast, in particular, has immense potential for future growth, according to that developer, an Israel headquartered company backing livestock turnkey projects.
The complex will be built on 50 hectares of land in Toumodi, next to the Abidjan-Yamoussoukro highway, some 45km south of Yamoussoukro.
Infrastructure work on the site has already started and the farm is set to become fully operational in early 2022.
Local grain will be used as raw material for the poultry feedstuffs, and those inputs will be complemented by imported feed supplements, said a spokesperson for Agrotop.
The project is mindful of environmental impact; the complex will include a wastewater treatment and recycling facility along with a sewage treatment unit, he said.
“On top of that, there will also a rendering plant, and that is set to convert feathers and all other slaughterhouse waste into valuable protein.”
Jobs boost
In terms of the community benefits arising from the project, the developer expects it to create 600 jobs. “Agrotop will train local workers and managers to eventually run the farms.”
The initiative is the brainchild of local entrepreneur, Olivier Ban; the complex is aimed at meeting the growing local demand for poultry products, which is currently met by imports, in the main.
Agrotop has provided the design and engineering and will supply and construct the entire project. Its financiers raised the capital by syndicating development and commercial banks.
Ban said the Israeli company has assisted his team since it first entertained the idea of entering the poultry market. “The company helped us in drafting the business plan, financing and executing it.”
Sierra Leone poultry project
Agrotop is involved in several other such projects in Africa.
In September 2018, we reported that the developer, in conjunction with ISA, a company that specializes in finance and implementation of complex projects on that continent, had won a contract from the government of the Republic of Sierra Leone to construct a large-scale layer and pullet farm in that country.
But that initiative would appear to have hit a few roadblocks along the way. The Agrotop representative said the project had been delayed by bureaucratic issues. However, he said those are now believed to have been resolved, and the new farming minister is expected to give sign off on the project imminently.
