AFGRI celebrates 100 years in business

AFGRI, one of South Africa’s major agribusinesses, is geared for the future, thanks to a turnaround strategy that its new CEO, Norman Celliers, began implementing after he was appointed on 1 March 2021.

According to the company, over the past 24 months “a far-reaching and extensive turnaround programme” had been successfully implemented to realign the group around its core focus of partnering meaningfully with those involved in the South African agribusiness industry by delivering tangible value to its clients.

“AFGRI is now beginning to reap the rewards of the intensive restructure,” the company said in a statement, adding that it would continue to play a vital role in enabling food security by supplying a broad range of products and services across the entire agricultural value chain.

AFGRI, which this year will be celebrating 100 years of being in business, said the turnaround was also about moving it in a sustainable direction, while recognising the contribution that it has made as one of the oldest agribusinesses in sub-Saharan Africa.

“To say the group has faced tremendous challenges in the past two years, as we navigated through this non-negotiable restructuring in addition to battling [the challenges] presented by COVID-19, is an understatement, but we are grateful to report that we have made it with the group now well positioned,” Celliers said.

“Going back to basics is incredibly important: farming enterprises need to be supported by a multitude of services and products, the scale of which AFGRI has diligently supplied for the past century.

“This ranges in complexity from grain management and storage facilities, equipment sales and services, retail products, animal feed and milling, to agricultural financial services and insurance. These core areas of expertise are what we have returned to,” Celliers said.

The 24-month turnaround project included exiting or selling numerous non-core businesses in South Africa and select African markets.

Celliers said that with the extensive restructuring project now completed, AFGRI was poised for growth.

“Notwithstanding the challenges, the aggressive refocus on the core business has ensured a group turnover that has grown to approximately R20 billion annually with attractive normalised operational profits,” he added.

AFGRI is responsible for handling and servicing approximately five million tons of the grain value chain in South Africa.

It is also the largest independent John Deere dealer outside of North America, with operations in Africa and Australia. –