By M.A. Egge
The President of the Republic of Somaliland, His Excellency Abdirahman Mohamed Abdillahi Irro has emphasized that the nation of Somaliland is geared towards intensive and extensive agricultural production such that the nation may be able to sustain itself.
He pointed out that the government gave the sector the special priority as he met in his office the top executive of the US based international companyย ๐๐๐ซ๐ข๐๐๐งย ๐ ๐จ๐จ๐ย ๐๐๐๐ฎ๐ซ๐ขty, which operates in several countries in Africa.
Present at the meeting were the Ministers of the Presidency, Agriculture, the Presidential Spokesperson and the Secretary to the President.
The delegation was led by the CEO of the company, Mr. Allan Kessler, accompanied by Edward Meijering, Rage Adan, and Mohamed Diriye, all of whom are employees of the African Food Security Company.
The President thanked the African Food Security officials for their visit, and told them that his government gives special priority to increasing agricultural production, promoting drought- and climate-resistant crops, modernizing farming techniques, training farmers and improving their skills.
He pointed out that Somaliland welcomes investments that are beneficial to the people and the country, especially in the field of agricultural production.
For their part, Mr. Allan Kessler and other staff of the African Food Security Company thanked the President for the reception and hospitality.
They said that they were very happy for the opportunity to invest in a country like Somaliland, noting that they had the financial and technical capacity and know-how to implement significant changes in Somaliland in terms of modernizing the way of farming, boost agricultural production and animal feed, such that the nation may sustain itself.
African Food Security said that given the strategic location of Somaliland, it would be able to export agricultural products to Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) in the future.
Finally, the President of the Republic of Somaliland told the delegation from African Food Security that any agreement between the two parties is the responsibility of the Minister of Agriculture Development of the Somaliland Republic.
African Food Security (AFS) is established as a United States-based and Africa focused agricultural development company, poised to become a global leader in Food Security for the African region, and the world, through technologically leading sustainable, primary farming models scaling regionally and globally, across a 1mm hectare footprint on the African continent.
Its CEO,ย Mr. Allan Kessler,ย is a private sector member and US partner of the Global Flagship Initiative for Food Security, developed in collaboration with the Science Summit at the UN General Assembly (UNGA), this initiative representing a unified global effort to address desertification, land degradation, and their socio-economic impacts in the context of food security
He holds 25 years of experience on Wall Street, including Morgan Stanley, and Goldman Sachs.; He has worked in numerous Advisory, operational and capital raise roles for the benefit of Africa, via project development, and commodities; member of the US-South Africa Business council, the US AGOA delegation, among other board appointments, both public and private. He is responsible for the creation, build, and operation of the first publicly traded African food security company on the NASDAQ stock exchange. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania (Cum Laude) and an MBA from Columbia Business School.
(Additional report from sources).