Phosphates: Morocco’s OCP sends Rwanda 15,000 tons of fertilizers

Morocco’s state-owned phosphate OCP Group has provided Rwanda 15,000 tons of Diammonium Phosphate (DAP) in a solidarity move to help farmers of this African country maintain productivity amid a serious global supply shortage, leading to record high fertilizer prices.

The announcement of Moroccan donation was made over the weekend by Rwanda’s Minister of Agriculture Gerardine Mukeshimana during a visit to the construction site of a fertilizer blending factory in Bugesera District, along with several officials including Mohamed Anouar Jamali, Chief of OCP Africa, a key partner in this project.

“We are fortunate that our friends from OCP have donated 15,000 tons of DAP fertilizers”, said the minister, noting that the Moroccan contribution comes at a time fertilizer costs are high due to the Russia-Ukraine war and the rising transport costs associated with the Covid-19 pandemic.

According to press reports, OCP Group pledged to supply Rwanda with additional 17,000 tons DAP fertilizer at a discounted price within the frame of the Group’s initiative to empower African farmers and ensure African food sovereignty.

“With the impacts of the Ukraine war on fertilizer prices and drought in Eastern Africa, the situation has become unbearable for small farmers and disastrous for food security,” said Head of OCP Africa, a subsidiary of the state-owned Moroccan phosphate group (OCP).

OCP Africa works hand in hand with farmers to help grow the agricultural potential of the African continent through solutions adapted to local conditions and to the needs of soils and crops.

OCP Africa is present in Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal, Cameroon, Kenya, Ghana, Nigeria, Zambia, Benin, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Burkina Faso and Rwanda. It seeks to secure the production of competitive fertilizers near major agricultural pools, to strengthen its logistical capacities and to develop new local distribution networks.