Aller Aqua Group is a family owned company with headquarters in Christiansfeld, Denmark. The company produces environmentally friendly fish feed for aquaculture that is exported to more than 60 countries worldwide. Since the production of fish feed began more than 50 years ago, the company has been constantly growing and now has factories in Poland, Germany and Egypt. Currently, Aller Aqua is establishing factories in Zambia and China as well as expanding the capacity in their factory in Egypt.
The new factory in Zambia will be able to produce 50,000 tonnes of fish feed per year and will be the most technically advanced fish feed factory in southern Africa. The plant is expected to begin the production of high quality fish feed in September 2017.
– Construction of the factory is ongoing and on schedule. There are of course many challenges when building a factory in Zambia compared to Denmark, but we have a great team and a management that ensures that we overcome challenges as they arise and meet our goal, says Henrik Halken who is responsible for Aller Aqua’s factories in Africa.
Market leader in environmentally friendly fish feed for aquaculture in Africa
Today, every other fish eaten worldwide comes from fish farming. In Africa, where the population growth increases rapidly, the market for aquaculture is expected to increase significantly in the coming years as it is an effective way to produce protein for a growing population. By using quality fish feed such as Aller Aqua’s, the production of farmed fish is moreover made environmentally friendly, because the feed among other things has a high nutritional digestibility, resulting in low emissions of nutrients in the water.
– With the investment in Zambia, we are market leaders in Africa in terms of modern and environmentally friendly fish feed for aquaculture. This will make it possible not only to increase our sales in Zambia, but also in the surrounding countries, says Henrik Halken.
IFU supports Aller Aqua’s expansion for the third time
The factory in Zambia is IFU’s third investment with Aller Aqua Group. IFU contributes with a loan of DKK 49m and advisory services about establishing and operating businesses in Zambia.
– We welcome, also in this project, IFU as co-investor. Besides the financing that IFU provides to the project, we are sure that we can benefit from IFU’s experience on the African continent. We already have cooperation with IFU in both Egypt and China, says Henrik Halken.
– IFU are very pleased with the good cooperation we have with Aller Aqua, which has ensured that we are part of the establishment of one of their factories for the third time. The plant in Zambia will help to generate economic growth by lifting the aquaculture sector in the country, creating jobs and increasing access to fresh fish of good quality for the local population, says Anders Paludan-Müller, Investment Director at IFU.