French fertiliser manufacturer bows out of Kenya

A French fertiliser manufacturer has bowed out of Kenya after a seven-year period in which it unsuccessfully tried to crack the market.

In a Kenya Gazette notice, Timac Agro Kenya said its shareholders had agreed to have the company wound up, ending its operation in the country.

“Notice is given that pursuant to a general meeting held on July 15, 2020, it was resolved that the shareholders propose that the company be wound up voluntarily under section 393 (1) (b) of the Insolvency Act, 2015,” said the company’s lawyers in the notice dated July 20.

K V S K Sastry was also proposed as the appointed liquidator for the purpose of winding up the company’s affairs.

Timac Agro Kenya is a subsidiary of Roullier Group - one of the largest suppliers of fertiliser in the world.

It opened a regional office in Nairobi in 2014 and signed a distributorship agreement with a local dealer, MEA Ltd, to ease its entry into the Kenyan market.

Roullier produces what it calls “specificity fertiliser” that it says contains a molecule that eases the absorption of crop nutrients.

However, it looks like the company has not been able to compete against the cheap fertiliser from the government, which is imported in bulk.

The State fertiliser is distributed to farmers across the country at below-market rates in efforts to improve production.

Timac Agro started by targeting commercial farmers in high productivity areas whose purchasing power for premium products is higher.

Its fertilisers would cost about 50 per cent more than other fertiliser brands, which by then were selling at Sh2,450 for a 50kg bag.

However, the company said the rate of usage of its fertilisers could be 50 per cent less and farmers would record a substantial increase in their yields.

Roullier Group began operations in Africa towards the end of 2013 and opened offices in Senegal and Côte d’Ivoire.