Issue 56
Shayona Cement Corporation
For the best part of 25 years, Shayona Cement Corporation has stayed true to its vision of realising the development potential of its native Malawi.
Philafrica Foods
Philafrica Foods’ three-pronged strategy is set to capitalise on African agricultural opportunity by reducing imports and increasing exports; enriching hundreds of thousands of local farmers in the processWriter: Matthew StaffProject Manager: Joshua MannThe ability to succeed on a corporate level, and to succeed from an ethical perspective are usually mutually exclusive achievements, but Philafrica Foods (Pty) Ltd is aiming to buck the trend by combining the two across Africa.In trying to undo many of the agricultural challenges that exist on the continent - sub-Saharan Africa specifically - the business is aiming to simultaneously capitalise on the abundant opportunities that exist across many countries’ fertile lands.And while financial success will inevitably go hand in hand with the ultimate evolution of Philafrica Foods, the vision that kick-started the journey was - and still remains - much more wholesome.Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Roland Decorvet recalls: “To understand the Company, you need to understand my background which derives from more than 20 years at Nestle, and from working all over the world in the food sector; especially in China over the past 15 years. When I left three years ago, I was on a board of a hospital ship NGO called Mercy Ships and me and my family left the comfortable expatriate life to live aboard it; sailing around Africa bringing free medical care to the continent.“It was this mixture of corporate and socially-driven work which led to a vision to create a different kind of food company, that was profit-driven but with a very strong social agenda; not…