SINGAPORE — Global agribusiness Olam International Limited and French feedstock company InVivo Animal Nutrition & Health announced on Jan. 7 they had signed a consulting agreement to jointly develop expertise in animal feed in Nigeria.
The two-year consulting services partnership agreement will involve technical assistance and sharing of expertise to jointly develop solutions and products in animal feed. The knowledge transfer between the two companies will help develop solutions, formulate animal feed, characterize raw materials and implement R&D trials and protocols to enter the animal feed industry in Nigeria.
As part of this agreement, both companies will tap each other’s proven expertise – Olam for its Africa experience and InVivo for its animal feed proficiency. InVivo will support Olam in the design, equipment selection and installation of its feed mills across Nigeria. Its nutrition and formulation experts will work closely with Olam’s team to build a strong understanding of the local market and develop cost-effective formulations using both local and imported raw materials.
InVivo will also train Olam’s staff on providing veterinary field support to poultry and fish farmers in order to help deliver consistent product performance. In addition, Olam will gain access to InVivo’s R&D and product development facilities as well as their feed manufacturing units in other developing markets across Asia and Latin America.
“This partnership follows our announcement in November to enter the animal feed and related businesses in Nigeria,” said K C Suresh, Olam’s global head of Grains. “This knowledge-transfer agreement will accelerate our penetration into this space, allowing Olam and InVivo to rapidly scale up commercial activities. In doing so, we look forward to improving productivity and returns for the local fish and poultry producers, which supports Nigeria’s economy.”
The global feed industry is a growing part of the agri-commodity complex with attractive returns and a strong growth outlook, particularly in emerging markets such as Nigeria, Olam said.
“Developing key partnerships with major players and accelerating our footprint in Africa is at the core of InVivo’s 2025 strategy,” said H. de Roquefeuil, InVivo NSA’s chief executive officer. “We look forward to leveraging off Olam’s Africa experience to bring our differentiated expertise to the region.”
Olam has a 25-year history in Nigeria across multiple commodities. Its recent decision to expand into the animal feed industry was based on a comprehensive study of the sector and its existing expertise in the agri-commodity complex in the region. Nigeria was chosen as the first point of entry due to its strong growth outlook and demographics where the commercial feed market is expected to grow at over 10% CAGR over the next five years, Olam said.
InVivo NSA has 60 years of expertise in animal nutrition and is a leading animal feed producer known for its R&D and technical know-how.