AGCO’s Fourth Africa Summit Focuses on Partnering for Growth
DULUTH, Ga.
--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 19, 2015--
AGCO
(NYSE:
AGCO
), a global leader in the design, manufacture and
distribution of agricultural machinery and solutions, today held its
fourth annual AGCO Africa Summit in
Berlin, Germany
. The Summit is a
joint initiative of
AGCO
,
Bayer CropScience
, DEG – Deutsche
Investitions- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft and
Rabobank
.
Rob Smith, Senior Vice President and General Manager,
Europe
,
Africa
and
Middle East
; H. E. Joaquim Alberto Chissano, Former President,
Republic
of
Mozambique
; Christian Schmidt, Federal Minister of Food and Agriculture,
Germany
; H. E. Sir Quett Ketumile Joni Masire, Former President Republic of
Botswana
and Martin Richenhagen,
AGCO
Chairman, President & CEO at the AGCO Africa Summit 2015. (Photo: Business Wire)
This year’s Summit focused on how we can all become better partners for
Africa
as well as highlighting Africa’s agricultural advancements driven
by the private sector – promoting the idea of agriculture as a business
and not just a development agenda. “Ensuring food security is the top
priority for many African Governments who struggle to afford imported
food for their rapidly growing populations while significant amounts of
their arable land is not used,” said Martin Richenhagen, Chairman,
President and Chief Executive Officer of
AGCO
. “Developing strong
partnerships across the value chain will be critical in achieving this
goal and we each have an important role to play – governments, the
private sector and development agencies. AGCO’s focus is on promoting
sustainable mechanization in Africa.”
A key aspect of AGCO’s
Africa
strategy is focused on advancing farming
know-how and improving its distribution network through initiatives like
the ‘Future Farm Concept’ which was showcased at this year’s AGCO Africa
Summit.
The Future Farm
will give local farmers and
AGCO
dealers
hands-on training experience and exposure to leading edge agriculture
through a new state-of-the-art mechanisation centre, a poultry learning
centre and a grain handling centre, each a first of its kind for
Africa
.
The Future Farm
in
Zambia
is now fully operational and the grand opening
will take place in
May 2015
.
AGCO
plans to expand the
Future Farm
Concept in other key markets in
Africa
, initially focussing on
Francophone Africa. “Africa represents an important future growth market
for
AGCO
and we are putting sustainable mechanization at the core of our
strategic investments,” said Rob Smith, Senior Vice President and
General Manager,
Europe
,
Africa
and
Middle East
. In
May 2014
,
AGCO
launched the new Global Series Tractor in
Africa
, the result of AGCO’s
largest ever product investment. In 2012,
AGCO
set up
Algerian Tractor
Company
(ATC) with the Algerian Government, through L’Entreprise
Publique Economique de Production de Tracteurs Agricoles (ETRAG) and
L’Entreprise Publique Economique de Commercialisation de Materiels
Agricoles (PMAT). Dr. Smith explains, “For AGCO, ‘sustainable
mechanisation’ means designing our products for the African market
environment and building them locally. It also means providing
professional training for operating, maintaining and servicing our
machines, and first class support through our extensive dealer network
and parts supply in Africa.”
This year’s AGCO Africa Summit turnout was phenomenal. Delegates from
all parts of
Africa
attended the event, including H. E. Joaquim Alberto Chissano, Former President,
Republic
of
Mozambique
; H. E. Sir Quett
Ketumile Joni Masire, Former President Republic of
Botswana
; and Christian Schmidt, Federal Minister of Food and Agriculture,
Germany
.
The AGCO Africa Summit has grown tremendously over the past four years.
In 2014, the Summit focused on “Innovation in the Field” and presented
innovative ideas and practical solutions to improve the performance of
Africa’s agricultural sector. This year, the focus was on partnerships
within the agricultural value chain that need to be forged to turn
visions into reality.
For more information, please visit http://agco-africa-summit.com/.
ABOUT
AGCO
AGCO
(NYSE: AGCO) is a global leader in the design, manufacture and
distribution of agricultural machinery. AGCO supports more productive
farming through a full line of tractors, combines, hay tools, sprayers,
forage equipment, grain storage and protein production systems, tillage
implements and replacement parts. AGCO products are sold through five
core machinery brands, Challenger®, Fendt®, GSI®, Massey Ferguson® and
Valtra® and are distributed globally through approximately 3,100
independent dealers and distributors in more than 140 countries
worldwide. Founded in 1990, AGCO is headquartered in Duluth, GA, USA. In
2013, AGCO had net sales of $10.8 billion. www.AGCOcorp.com.
Photos/Multimedia Gallery Available: http://www.businesswire.com/multimedia/home/20150119005316/en/
Source:
AGCO
AGCO
Rebecca Fabian, +1.646.415.8518
rebecca.fabian@instinctif.com