Martin Richenhagen, president, chairman and CEO of AGCO, Your Agriculture Company, has opened the company’s new Africa headquarters in Johannesburg
Richenhagen said, “Africa’s role is pivotal to feeding the world’s growing population and repairing the problem of global food security.”
“With global sales of US$8.3bn, AGCO is making major investments in Africa to engineer food security and support sustainable productivity through technology and innovation,” explained Richenhagen. “As a ‘first mover’ in innovation, we are meeting the challenge to grow more food with fewer resources head-on.”
The opening of the new headquarter in Johannesburg is a part of AGCO’s continually developing infrastructure on the continent which has also seen the establishment of a parts warehouse, the AGCO Future Farm and Training Centre in Zambia and a joint venture to produce tractors in Algeria. Most recently, the company launched the new AGCO Agribusiness Qualification (AAQ), an accredited two-year agribusiness programme.
In a further significant move, the company is poised to develop its involvement in the Agri-Parks project, the networked innovation system of agro-production, processing, logistics, marketing, training and extension services.
“The company’s approach to ‘serve Africa from Africa’ is central to our strategy to accelerate and deepen agricultural growth on the continent. Africa – your time is now,” said Gary Collar, senior vice-president and general manager of AGCO for Asia-Pacific and Africa.
Richenhagen further noted, “Meeting key stakeholders in Africa’s agricultural advancement was a great opportunity for me, and as a business we are committed to Africa and will be available to add towards initiatives that ensure that agriculture is done differently, in order to contribute towards economic growth and job creation.”
From the opening of the Africa headquarter, Richenhagen said that he will travel to Zambia to tour the AGCO Future Farm facility in Lusaka.
