Olam Agri plans to invest approximately $400 million in African food supply chains through 2028, targeting growing demand for meat and processed products.
The planned spending includes chicken and fish feed factories, grain processing operations and additional wheat milling capacity in countries including Nigeria and Ivory Coast, according to a Bloomberg report citing a company statement.
The programme comes on top of roughly $115 million already invested in West African processing operations since 2024. It signals a further commitment to processing agricultural commodities closer to the markets where the resulting food and feed products are consumed.
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Olam Agri’s Africa investment plans
The announced spending covers several connected parts of the food industry.
| Investment area | Planned focus |
|---|---|
| Poultry feed | Factories producing feed for chicken farming |
| Aquaculture feed | Facilities supplying fish farmers |
| Grain processing | Expanded capacity to process agricultural commodities |
| Wheat milling | Additional milling capacity for food production |
| Named markets | Nigeria and Ivory Coast, among others |
| Investment period | Through 2028 |
| Planned expenditure | Approximately $400 million |
| Previous investment | Roughly $115 million in West African processing since 2024 |
The new commitment and earlier spending together amount to approximately $515 million, although the figures cover different periods and geographic scopes. The full amount has not already been spent.
Changing diets create demand beyond crop trading
Olam Agri’s strategy reflects its expectation that African consumers will buy more meat and processed food products.
That shift creates demand across several stages of production. Increased poultry and fish consumption can support demand for commercial feed, while greater consumption of grain-based foods requires processing and milling capacity.
The investment therefore extends beyond buying and selling crops. It focuses on the facilities that turn agricultural inputs into products used by farmers, food manufacturers and consumers.
Demand will differ across countries and income groups. The announcement identifies a commercial opportunity across selected markets rather than suggesting that dietary changes are uniform throughout Africa.
Feed factories connect the investment to poultry and fish farming
Chicken and fish feed production is a central part of the expansion.
Feed manufacturers supply farmers with formulated products used to raise livestock and fish. Expanding that capacity could help Olam Agri serve producers responding to demand for animal protein.
The benefits will depend on more than factory capacity alone. Raw-material availability, transport, energy costs and farmers’ purchasing power will influence how effectively new production reaches the market.
The announcement does not specify the number of planned factories, their individual capacities or how much of the $400 million will go to feed production.
Wheat milling and grain processing remain priorities
Olam Agri also intends to process more grain and increase wheat milling.
Milling converts wheat into flour used by bakeries and food manufacturers. Additional capacity can expand domestic processing, even where the underlying wheat continues to be sourced through international trade.
That distinction matters: investing in local mills does not necessarily mean replacing imported agricultural commodities. It can instead mean performing more processing within the destination country.
The commercial opportunity lies in supplying food producers with processed ingredients while building local manufacturing and distribution activity.
Nigeria and Ivory Coast among the target markets
Nigeria and Ivory Coast are among the countries named in the spending plans, but the available announcement does not provide a country-by-country allocation.
It also does not identify every project location or establish a separate completion date for each facility.
The programme follows Olam Agri’s previous investment in West African processing operations. The additional spending suggests the company sees further opportunities to expand those activities as demand evolves.
What to watch as the programme develops
The next significant details will be the location, scale and timing of individual projects.
Factory commissioning dates and production capacities will show how much additional food and feed supply the investment can deliver. They will also clarify how spending is divided between new facilities and expansions of existing operations.
For now, Olam Agri’s plan is a substantial commitment to the processing side of Africa’s food economy. Its success will depend on turning that investment into reliable production that meets changing consumer demand at commercially viable prices.
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