Tunisians Anticipate Productive Dakar 2 Africa Food Summit | African Development Bank

From left to right: Mr. Tarek Chaouech, MD, GIPAC; Mr. Mohammed Nadri, MD, COCEBLE; Mr. Chiheb Slama, MD, Slama Oils; Mr. Hichem Mami, MD, Chahia; Mr. Abdelaziz Makhloufi, MD, CHO; Mr. Mohamed Chikhaoui, MD, Poulina Group Holding;, Dr. Ines Taktak, Director, GIPAC; Mr Mohammed El Azizi, African Development Bank; Mr. Rafaa Marouki, African Development Bank; Mr. Abdessalem Loued, MD, CHO; Mr Abdelmonem Khlifi, STIMA; Mr Abdelhalim Guesmi, Tunisian Ministry of Agriculture, Water Resources and Fisheries

There is great interest from Tunisia in the three-day Africa Food Summit that will take place this week near the Senegalese capital Dakar. Some of Tunisia’s leading agricultural entrepreneurs will participate in the summit.

At a pre-Tunis summit briefing with the Director General of the Ministry of Agriculture, Mr Abdelhalim Guesmi, private operators in Tunisia’s grain, olive and poultry sectors learned how top African heads of state and private sector partners will bring together to better exploit Africa’s agricultural and food potential.

The Government of Senegal and the African Development Bank co-hosted the summit under the chairmanship of Senegal’s President, Mr Macky Sall. The theme is: “Unleashing Africa’s Food Potential.” From January 25 to 27, the Abdou Diouf International Conference Center in Diamniadio, near Dakar, will be at the center of efforts to turn plans into concrete actions to transform African agriculture and strengthen its resilience in light of the post -Covid-19 crisis, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the consequences of climate change.

Mahmoud Elyes Hamza, Tunisia’s Minister of Agriculture, Water Resources and Marine Fisheries, will represent Tunisia on behalf of President Kais Saied. Hamza will try to create opportunities for successful public-private partnerships in the agricultural sector.

Tunisia, with its internationally recognized expertise in niche markets such as olives, grain and poultry, hopes to support sub-Saharan countries in developing their industries. A pre-summit meeting held last week at the regional office of the African Development Bank in Tunis showed the level of interest there is in what the summit could achieve.

Poulina Group Managing Director Mr. Mohammed Chikhaoui said that poultry is a sector that can have a major impact as the Tunisian poultry industry is already in the top six poultry sectors worldwide in terms of health standards and quality. He said it attracts a lot of foreign investment.

Chikhaoui said: “Poultry has a promising future in Africa. Consumption has increased tenfold in a decade and the industry is expected to grow by 30% by 2031.”

With the Poulina Group in the top six in the world, another Tunisian company, Chahia, ranks fifth worldwide for its quality standards. The CEO, Mr. Hichem Mami, also attended the pre-summit meeting.

The Tunisian olive industry – 2^na world producer behind the European Union – is also keen to expand to African countries equipped with favorable water sources and climates suitable for olive production. Mr. Abdessalem Elwad, the CEO of Riviere d’Or – and representative of the Tunisian Union of Industry, Trade and Crafts, and member of the International Olive Oil Council – would like to set up a pilot project in other parts of Africa to assess where traditional Tunisian olive trees could be grown.

Mr. Abdelaziz Makhloufi, CEO of the CHO olive producer, recommended setting up public-private partnerships to assess olive cultivation on a large scale. The African Development Bank published a study in 2019 identifying potential locations for olive tree cultivation in Mauritania that could be used for that purpose.

Operators from the grain industry also shared the idea of ​​conducting pilots on a scale.

The Dakar Summit will provide operators with the opportunity to hold public-private consultations on boosting grain production. For example, the Tunisian National Institute of Field Crops and the Tunisian Office of Cereals could collaborate with Morocco’s Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (funded by the OCP Group) and the African Development Bank to support an international research program on new cereal varieties and forgotten crops . This would develop a pan-African map of grain production potential.

Mr Mohammed Nadri, director general of the Central Co-operative of Wheat (COCEBLE) – which represents 13,000 farmers who harvest 25% of Tunisia’s wheat production – says Tunisia could undertake a research program into resilient varieties well adapted to climate change . Nadri said, “Tunisia has the expertise to help other African countries increase their productivity.”

Mr. Abdelmonem Khlifi, the manager of STIMA, a grain production company, added that the reintroduction to Tunisia of traditional varieties once bred by the Romans has brought Tunisia higher yields than Italy.

Mr Mohammed El Azizi, Director General of the African Development Bank for North Africa, says there is much to discuss at this week’s Dakar 2 Africa Food Summit. He emphasized this during the briefing ahead of the Tunis summit. El Azizi said: “Bringing policy makers, industry experts, international organizations and investors together around the same table, the Dakar 2 summit will provide a decisive answer to the financing needs of Africa’s agro-industry.”

Click here for the Dakar 2 Summit schedule and live streaming links.