Continuing its mission to Senegal, an African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) delegation led by Bank President Dr. Benedict Oramah on Tuesday toured the facilities of the Zena Exotic Fruits SA, a family-owned food company based in Dakar and engaged in the blending of African fruits and plant products into juices and other fruit products for the domestic and export markets.
Receiving the delegation, Zena Manager Randa Filifli said that the company had recorded considerable growth since it began operations but that the main challenge facing it was finding a way to fulfil the large volume of orders it was Ms. Filifli said that the company’s products had been certified by agencies such as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for sale in the United States, thereby making them attractive to many foreign sellers. As a result, they were being sold on the shelves of major United States grocery chains like Whole Foods and orders had been received from Walmart.
Consequently, the company was receiving much more orders that it could fill with its existing production facilities, she explained, saying that the company was very keen to see how it could work with Afreximbank in order to scale up its operations in a sustainable way.
Responding, Dr. Oramah said that Afreximbank was constantly looking for how it could support indigenous companies that showed promise in their efforts to produce quality goods to meet regional and export needs.
He said that the visit had enabled Afreximbank to see Zena’s facilities and to observe the work being done by the company in order to better assess how it could work with the company.
Dr. Oramah said that the company could consider a franchising arrangement under which it would license companies in other African countries to produce under its label.
Zena’s products include both regular juices and exotic blends made from locally available plants and fruits, including cashew fruit, apple, hibiscus, baobab, etc. Many of the employees of the company are women, including many with handicaps.
The Afreximbank delegation included Dr. George Elombi, Executive Vice President, Corporate Governance and Legal Services/Executive Secretary; Kanayo Awani, Director, Trade Finance and Branches; Obi Emekekwue, Head, External Communications; Alain-Thierry Mbongue, Regional Manager, Francophone West Africa; Yusuf Daya, Senior Manager, Project and Export Development Finance; and Richman Dzene, Special Assistant to the President.
Afreximbank delegation inspecting Zena’s facilities in Dakar.