Tanzania: Dutch Businessman Eyes Big Sisal Investment in Tanzania

By Bernard Lugongo

A DUTCH businessman is ambitiously looking forward to investing in Tanzania's sisal cultivation and processing, with the investment capital of $5.7m to boost crop production.

Through his company, Grosso Sisal Company Limited, Mr Nuradin Osman, has found that there is the potential for Tanzania's sisal farming and processing. Tanzania faces a shortage of sisal processing facilities.

Out of the few that exist, many rely on obsolete technology that dates back to the 1950s that utilises only 2 per cent of sisal and leaves the rest to waste.

But, Mr Osman said he would equip his factories with high tech machines to ensure he turned the 98 per cent of the crop, which was thrown away as waste after processing into raw materials for producing other products.

Apart from producing fibres from sisal, the company would be using waste in value-adding processes of alcoholic beverages, animal feeds, agave concentrates and bio-fuels.

This will extensively guarantee the company's maximum utilisation of sisal above 2 per cent currently used in fibre production.

"Existing factories use only 2 per cent of sisal to produce fibres and throw away the remaining 98 per cent. Therefore I am interested in this 98 per cent. I want Tanzanian farmers to benefit in the entire value chain of this crop," Mr Osman, with over 30 years of experience in Pan-African agriculture, said.

He added: "The factories will be processing sisal to produce high grade products, targeting both local and international markets and offer greater returns for farmers, reduce waste, and overall advancement to the agribusiness of Africa," he noted.

Mr Osman plans to set up processing plants at Magoma Estate in Tanga Region where he has already mobilised over 3,000 sisal farmers. He noted that he had started government procedures for investments.

The investments will be done in two phases, with the company intending to inject $700,000 in phase I.

The company will facilitate agronomy as part of $700,000 invested in the project's first phase.

Modern technologies will be utilised for high and quality crop yield. The success of phase I at Magoma will create a reference point for other Tanzania regions.

This phase will experience capital facilitation, accumulating to $5 million from fiscal year 3 to fiscal year 5. Implementation of phase II will cater for introduction of alternative value-added chains within the sector.

He noted that Grosso Sisal's foremost strategy was to gain a competitive advantage in Tanzania's sisal industry by establishing high impact and profitable agribusiness.

The company will also be entering contracts with sisal farmers to create the best approach to tackle the yield issue through agronomic interventions.