US & Liberia Trade & Investment Forum 2015

1. US & Liberia Trade & Investment Forum 2015 Session 2: Agriculture & Agri-Business A Presentation on Agriculture & Agri-Business Investment Opportunities by George G. WisnerExecutive Director National Investment CommissionRepublic of Liberia

2. Agriculture & Agri-Business Outline • Rubber Processing & Rubberwood • Cocoa • Aquaculture & Marine Fish • Oil Palm • Horticulture • Rice • Cassava • Agriculture Value Chain Financing

3. Liberia’s Agriculture Clusters P C V Lofa Cluster R C V Aquaculture Hubs A Prime Cocoa Areas C A C Nimba Cluster V Bomi Cluster Marine Fish Hubs F P Monrovia-Ganta Belt A P F Oil Palm Areas P A R R R Rubber Processing Clusters R A V Vegetable & Rice Hubs R P F P South East Cluster P P R P A

4. Priority Sector: Rubber Processing • Long standing history in rubber production • Liberia searching for industrial investors in rubber compounding & production of dry rubber products such as door mats, boots, handles, chairs, pipes, bushels & gloves • Many medium size farmers investing in ribbed smoked sheets & rubber crepe • 63,000t produced in 2013, potential expansion to 325,000t • Over 200,000 ha of arable land available: 55% of rubber from small farmers • Large unexploited ECOWAS market for ribbed smoked sheets, crepe & rubber products • Large unexploited investment opportunity in rubberwood & its products

5. Priority Sector: Cocoa • Cocoa sector in Cote D’Ivoire, Ghana & Nigeria is saturated: Liberia is next frontier for cocoa • 90% of cocoa bought by informal traders i.e. potential for investors to improve yields & quality • Investor-friendly regulatory framework for cocoa being developed • Cocoa yield = 200 kg/ha; potential to increase to 1,000kg/ha • Global demand increasing by 6% per year & is worth $4bn. • Market for cocoa butter & powder in Liberia is growing by 4% & 2% p.a..

6. Priority Sector: Aquaculture & Marine Fish AQUACULTURE • Liberia looking for first industrial investor in aquaculture, to exploit untapped market • Most renewable internal water resources per capita in Africa • Optimal natural water temperature for aquaculture (27o Celsius) • Can produce 330,000 mt of inland fish (current production only 2,500 mt) • Domestic market unsaturated, particularly up-country plus large regional market • Large, untapped business opportunity – particularly as there is currently no competition. MARINE FISH • With Mt Coffee Dam completed, cheaper to process fish in Liberia vs Nigeria, Senegal, CI. • Liberia’s coastline & continental shelf offers 20,000 sq. km of fishing ground • Only 7,300 mt of marine fish produced locally, while consumption lies at 23,800 mt p.a. • Fish landing, storage & processing facilities being built in Robertsport & Monrovia • Gov’t streamlining tax regime & regulations in sector

7. Priority Sector: Oil Palm • Indigenous home of oil palm; produced 176,000 mt 2013 – little of which processed • Un-tapped ECOWAS market in oil palm products • Perfect place to invest in the processing of crude palm oil into refined oil for cooking, soaps, cosmetics, food processing, mulch, fertilizer, animal feed & bio-fuel • 4 large investors including world leaders Sime Darby & Golden Veroleum • Govt & SIDA developing model for outgrower schemes for large concessions • Hundreds of small & medium scale farms around country, mostly in rubber belt • USAID running support programme of oil palm by developing market for high variety seedlings among other types of support Potential 40% profit Oil Palm Profitability, $ per tonne

8. Horticulture • Ideal for investment in inputs, production, aggregation, packaging & processing. • Rainfall of 2,391 mm p.a., compared to 1,348 mm in Ghana or 730 mm in Kenya. • Large, growing domestic market, access to ECOWAS & sea access to EU & US markets. • In 2013 Liberia produced 291,000 mt worth of fruit & vegetables. Imported 14,300 mt • Domestic market alone is worth $103 million p.a. • Highest potential: tomatoes, pineapples, mangoes, plantain, banana, sweet potatoes and chilli pepper (high Scoville Index) • Liberia has direct flight access to Brussels, Casablanca, Abidjan & Nairobi

9. Cassava • Cassava is an important staple crop in Liberia, can be planted all year • Average Liberian can consume 5 times more, making Liberia growth economy for cassava • Scope for market capture through quality & innovation. • Use of quality inputs & agro-chemicals limited = large market for input providers. • Potential for cassava value addition such as gari, cassava flour, high quality cassava starches, animal feed, syrup, ethanol, citric acid, sucrose & adhesives • Over 80 m tonnes of cassava is consumed every year in ECOWAS. Market growing by 4% p.a. Of this Liberia accounted for 520,000 tonnes. Cassava & Cassava Starch Market Growth $0.1 bn market $0.9 bn market $1.6 bn market $0.1 bn market

10. Rice • Liberia consumes 570,000 tons of rice per year • Of this 55% imported giving scope for investors in efficient, high yield farming (Nerica variety) & irrigation to capture market share • Growth of rice consumption in Liberia: 14.1% p.a. since 2003. • Can double yields & triple land harvested: now 230,000 ha but can increase to 600,000 ha • Investment opportunities in: • Nerica variety farming planted in irrigated or non-irrigated swamplands • Farm inputs and technology, hulling & milling • Processing into high value rice, cereal bars, rice crackers & rice starch. Rice bran sold as fish feed or processed by pharmaceutical industry. Rice Profitability, $ per metric tonne

11. Agriculture Value Chain Financing • Potential for investors to provide financing for agriculture value chains • Liberia has only 1 small agricultural bank - Afriland • Gov’t & donors (USAID, IFAD, World Bank, SIDA, EU) applying value chain approach to these value chains: • Rubber processing, rubberwood, oil palm, cocoa, aquaculture, marine fish, horticulture, rice, cassava, livestock • Scope for different types of investors: • Agriculture finance institutions • Development finance institutions • Philanthropists • Social entrepreneurs • Cooperative banks • Venture capitalists • Private Equity • Business & Technical Services Providers • NIC has registry of SME investment opportunities in agriculture: Contact PayeGbelayan

12. Thank you! George G. Wisner wisnergeorge5@gmail.com NIC Focal Person for Agriculture Investment Inquiries: PayeGbelayan: payesgbelayan@yahoo.com +231 886897995