A Hangzhou-based Chinese firm wants to set an agro-processing plant in Lomé to better operate in West Africa
Monday, 10 September 2018 15:46 
(Togo First) - International trade firm, Zhejiang Native Produce & Animal By-Products I/E Group Co., said it plans to set a tomato processing plant in Togo to serve the ECOWAS region.
Indeed, due to the high costs incurred by its product and international trade chain, the Chinese firm wants to strengthen its footprint in West Africa where it already exports food products (Togo, Benin, Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire and Burkina Faso). The group thus eyes Lomé as base, due to the Togolese capital’s stability and security.
“We are already exporting food products to Benin, Togo, Nigeria, Ghana, Niger and Ivory Coast. However, we have issues related to heavy costs. We therefore wish to assess the possibility to set a plant in Lomé so as to better sell our products and serve the region’s other countries,” Franck Qian, Head of the group’s Market Development Division, told Togo First, during Togo’s first Business Forum in Hangzhou.
First, the Hangzhou-based company intends to set a small packaging unit in Togo and progressively move to a bigger infrastructure. It will then transfer its whole production chain for the West African region to the country.
“We export mostly tomato paste to West Africa. First, we will proceed to packaging on site. Later, if things go well, we will directly process fresh tomatoes, into purée sold in tins or sachets,” Qian declared. “We will…later, think about the possibility to start production from scratch to end-product,” he added. In the long run, Togo could become the group’s supply station for the raw materials.
Established in 1975, Zhejiang Native Produce & Animal By-Products I/E Group Co exports food and rich textile to more than 100 countries around the world.
In the first half of this year, the group’s import-export transactions were valued at $411 million, up 5% compared to the same period the year before. In detail, exports amounted to $348 million (+2.5%) while imports stood at $62 million (+21.5%).
Fiacre E. Kakpo
