Danone, a French multinational dairy company, has made its first investment in Sub-Saharan Africa by establishing a modern dairy farm in Ogun State, Nigeria. The investment, made through its subsidiary Fan Milk, aims to increase domestic milk production in the West African country.
This is in support of the Central Bank of Nigeria's backward integration policy, which aims to increase local dairy production in order to increase local supply and reduce the country's reliance on imported dairy products.
The creator of well-known frozen dairy and ice cream brands Super Yogo, Fan Vanille, Fan Ice, and Go Slo revealed that the newly completed establishment will include a world-class dairy farm and training institute, bringing the parent company, Danone, to the forefront.
Ferdinand Mouko, the company's Managing Director, stated that the investment is in line with the organization's business development strategy and that it is committed to growing its business in a socially and economically beneficial manner.
"Our goal is to work with local dairy farmers in the Odeda community of Ogun State to accelerate the development and expansion of the local dairy market while also having the social and economic impact of improving the livelihood of the ecosystem within which we operate,” he said.
The company's intention to partner with Ogun State, according to Olayinka Akinkugbe, Chairman of the Board, stemmed from the company's close observation of the state government's commendable efforts in supporting and partnering with local and foreign investors.
"The company will leverage the key learnings for piloting its project in Nigeria with Danone's business expertise, which spans over 100 years of actively participating in the dairy value chain with great success," he said.
The dairy farm's construction, which has already begun, is expected to be completed by the end of the year. The historic initiative is part of the country's effort to increase milk production to 1.7 billion litres by 2024.
Nigeria has a cattle population of 20 million, producing 600 million litres of milk per year against a milk consumption capacity of 1.3 billion tonnes per year. To meet rising demand for milk and milk products, the West African country must spend US$1.5 billion per year on dairy product imports.
Danone's investment in the local economy follows the recent announcement by Arla Foods, one of Europe's largest dairy cooperatives, of a joint-venture partnership with Tolaram Group for the establishment of a Danish-designed state-of-the-art commercial dairy farm in Kaduna State.
