AFRICAN REVOLUTION OF VALUE ADDED AGRIBUSINESS?

The first private equity fund investing solely in agriculture-related businesses has recently been unveiled in South Africa. Agri-Vie has made clear its intention to focus on firms/entrepreneurs that are in the agribusiness value chain. For close to five decades, the returns from agricultural in African countries has stagnated and in many cases dropped. Exporters too have not been spared as the goods they bring to the world markets are mostly unprocessed and hence are priced in bulk (substantially lower than the final retail price). Could this be the turning point for agriculture on the continent?