Zimbabwe’s largest seed maker eyes India and Pakistan

With the firm partially unbundling its international operations and a partnership with Limagrain, Seed Co aims to to raise 31 million for its regional and international expansion plans

Regional-ocused seed manufacturer Seed Co Limited, says it is looking forward to expand into international markets, namely Pakistan and India.The Zimbabwe-headquartered firm currently operates subsidiaries in Zambia, Nigeria, Kenya, Malawi and Ghana.

Group chief executive officer Morgan Nzwere, said the group will leverage on popularity of its seed these countries.

“We are also looking at other markets outside Africa, places like Pakistan, places like India where we have a couple of varieties that have proved popular and we are looking how we can actualise that demand into meaningful business proposition,” he said.

Besides expanding outside of Sub Saharan Africa, Seed Co is also looking to extend its network in the region.

Nzwere said the group is now close to acquiring a licence after a long-drawn-out wait to start operations in the Ethiopian market.

In 2015, Seed Co said it had sought the intervention of regional bloc, the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) to obtain a licence in Ethiopia after encountering challenges with that government.

“In terms of Ethiopia, with the opening up of the government we are now more hopeful that the business licence, which has been eluding us for some time, we should now be able to get some traction,” he said, adding that countries like Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) were also being monitored.

“And then the Great Lakes region, places like Rwanda, the DRC we keep monitoring the situation. We have got development activities going on the ground.”..

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