SEKEM unveils medium-term investment plan: Our friends at Egyptian agribusiness SEKEM plan to invest EGP 500 mn over the coming three years to expand operation, CEO Helmy Abouleish told EnterpriseAM. The funds will be funneled into agriculture, land reclamation, supporting farmers, and increasing production capacity, he added.

Already underway: “We have already started deploying some of the investment amount this year — we plan to invest EGP 70 mn this year and deploy the rest over the coming three years,” Abouleish said.

A change in appetite: “We didn’t make any major investments over the past five years due to economic instability in the local market,” the CEO said, adding that this year marked a turning point due to market stability and a dip in inflation.

Expanding its regional footprint: SEKEM is working to set up shop in Saudi Arabia and Algeria — “the Saudi market is a promising market that is growing quickly, making it perfect as SEKEM’s gateway to the Gulf,” he said. As for the Algerian market, the company found an appetite for organic products there.

More expansion plans in the pipeline: The company is also eyeing expansion into markets including Slovakia, China, Indonesia, and Argentina. “Every market is different — we are currently studying each market on its own in cooperation with their respective trade ministries and conducting market research. Based on the outcome of our research, we will decide how we’ll enter these new markets,” Abouleish told us.

African expansion is also part of the plan: SEKEM is mulling entry into more African markets over the coming period, the CEO told us, adding that the continent has great investment opportunities. “We are in contact with commercial players in Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa — we are trying to reach a protocol to apply SEKEM’s model, the Economy of Love, and organic farming there,” Abouleish said. “Most African markets rely on agriculture as their main source of income.”

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