eBusiness Weekly
Tawanda Musarurwa
Regional-ocused seed manufacturer Seed Co Limited, says it is looking forward to expand into international markets, namely Pakistan and India.The Zimbabwe-headquartered firm currently operates subsidiaries in Zambia, Nigeria, Kenya, Malawi and Ghana.
Group chief executive officer Morgan Nzwere, said the group will leverage on popularity of its seed these countries.
“We are also looking at other markets outside Africa, places like Pakistan, places like India where we have a couple of varieties that have proved popular and we are looking how we can actualise that demand into meaningful business proposition,” he said.
Besides expanding outside of Sub Saharan Africa, Seed Co is also looking to extend its network in the region.
Nzwere said the group is now close to acquiring a licence after a long-drawn-out wait to start operations in the Ethiopian market.
In 2015, Seed Co said it had sought the intervention of regional bloc, the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) to obtain a licence in Ethiopia after encountering challenges with that government.
“In terms of Ethiopia, with the opening up of the government we are now more hopeful that the business licence, which has been eluding us for some time, we should now be able to get some traction,” he said, adding that countries like Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) were also being monitored.
“And then the Great Lakes region, places like Rwanda, the DRC we keep monitoring the situation. We have got development activities going on the ground.”
Last week, Zimbabwe’s largest seed maker Seed Co announced that it would seek shareholder approval in August to raise $19,22 million via a partial unbundling.
The group is looking to partially unbundle 71 percent of Seed Co International, as well as carry out a private placement on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE) and the Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE).
Following the partial unbundling Seed Co Limited will retain a 26 percent stake in Seed Co International.
The $19 million that the group is looking to raise will cover some of Seed Co International’s regional expansion plan, that require around $31 million.
The CEO said the balance of the required funding will come from the seed-maker’s partnership with Limagrain.
Nzwere also said the partial unbundling option had been chosen ahead of a rights offer in view of the foreign currency challenges in Zimbabwe.
“We considered the rights offer, but due to the foreign currency shortages, it wasn’t going to be a feasible option,” he said.
