Hundreds of key players and stakeholders in the fertilizer sector in West Africa converged on April 24- 26, 2019, at the Sarakawa Hotel in Lomé, Togo for the West Africa Fertilizer Forum (WAFF).
Organized by Argus in collaboration with the West African Fertilizer Association (WAFA), WAFF provided an important platform for about 200 people from about 30 countries representing all the links in the fertilizer supply chain, global producers, technology developers and investors to meet, interact, get the latest market insights as well as discuss issues affecting the sector and workable solutions.
Gracing the opening ceremony were many dignitaries including Segou Sangare, ECOWAS Commissioner for Agriculture; Moussa Diabaté, President of WAFA; and Rob Groot, Director, Business Development and Partnerships of the International Fertilizer Development Center (IFDC), among others.
A field visit took participants to the Togo Agricultural Inputs Company (CIAT) where they familiarized themselves with how operations at the blending plant are conducted. Participants also visited the Lomé Port, the largest port in west Africa by volume, where participants were taken through discharge fertilizer consignment processes and shown how the Lomé port works.
Various experts spoke on themes such as the State of the Fertilizer Sector in West Africa, Improving Fertilizer Logistics, and Financing Fertilizer Trade. Among them was Jason Scarpone, CEO of The African Fertilizer and Agribusiness Partnership (AFAP) and IFDC Board Member, who gave a convincing presentation about trade credit.
The closing ceremony was graced by the Minister of Agriculture of the Republic of Togo, Mr. Noël Bataka, who also toured the exhibition stands.
Participants were full of praise for WAFF 2019. Among whom being Madam Luisa Kalmongo, Head of Agriculture at the West Africa Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU), who noted, “[The Forum is] very enriching; lots of resource persons and great presentations. It was great discussing with the actors to have a first-hand information of their work.” Ada Nsitem, Senior Marketing Executive of Dangote Fertilizer Limited mentioned that “it offered a great opportunity for networking with key industry players in one place”.
