In the first fiscal year, PIA provided a plethora of resources for the development of the soybean sector. As soon as PIA signed its first investment contract with an investor in the soybean processing sector, PIA SAS mobilized significant financial resources of XOF billions from Coris Bank Togo, BIA Togo, and the Atlantic Bank of Mali.
Soybean production in Togo saw an increase through the signing of financing agreements for research, production, and supply of quality seeds with the National System of Seed Producers in Togo and the Togolese Institute of Agronomic Research. The seeds produced and purchased from these two organizations were then distributed to Togolese producers.
We have pre-financed more than 80 Togolese aggregators (young entrepreneurs) to secure the investor’s soybean supply being installed on the PIA site. Model farms have also been developed at the local level to introduce some farmers to new farming techniques that will help increase production.
Additionally, in 2021, PIA invested in the company named Mécanisme Incitatif de Financement Agricole (MIFA) based on risk-sharing. This investment will:
- give MIFA the tools to define its policy,
- strengthen MIFA’s integration in agricultural financing and insurance,
- give the professionalization of farmers,
- mechanize agricultural,
- increase in agricultural production,
- diversify the commodities, and
- structure the agricultural value chain.
All these elements are predicted to have a significantly positive economic and social impact, particularly in areas such as the upgrading of the condition and status of the Togolese farmer, food security, and the satisfactory supply of raw materials to the industries we intend to attract in Togo, both to a wider national scope and PIA.
The supply chain is subdivided into two sections:
Cereal section
- Supply chain focuses on soybeans, which is the most promising sector of the PIA project. It is specialized in the purchase, processing and export of soybeans.
Two kinds of soyabeans are available: organic soybeans and conventional soybeans. PIA accompanies several structures and farmers on all the national plan in the various stages of the production until the purchase without forgetting the logistic side. It will be intended for the transformation and the final consumption to reduce the exports of our raw materials. PIA’s challenge is to improve the living conditions of the Togolese farmer and reduce the unemployment rate by creating more jobs.
Wood exploitation section
- PIA is committed towards a sustainable and traceable procurement of the woods. Specialized in the purchase of teak logs, PIA installs a very large factory of transformation of teak logs to market them. PIA also encourages the population in reforestation of several plants in to avoid the climatic hazards and the deforestation. In addition to building suitable infrastructures and providing efficient logistics, PIA will therefore have to procure cotton and soya to its tenants, at a price which should be competitive with export FOB prices (to lower possible competition from supply company) and import prices (so that local supply remains interesting).
