Arab Finance: The doctor revealed Ayman Al-AbdManaging Director of Lotus Agricultural Development and Investment CompanyHe stated that the company will focus during the coming period on the uses of technology, artificial intelligence, and sustainability, calling for the activation of the commodity exchange to create balance in the Egyptian market, and that the state’s role should stop at reclaiming and making agricultural lands ready for agriculture, then the state will leave agriculture to investors and the private sector, and the state should not be A competitor to the private sector in the field of agriculture because this leads to market imbalance.
During an exclusive interview with Arab Finance, Al-Abd stressed the importance of supporting emerging, small and medium-sized companies, which contribute to the economic growth of the country while providing a pool of financing for agricultural companies on easy terms, and the text of the dialogue:
Let us first talk about Lotus Agricultural Development and Investment Company and what are its plans during the coming period?
Lotus Company for Development and Agricultural Investment was established in 2011 as an Egyptian joint stock company with a small capital as a family company. The company’s goal was to work in all animal feed exported outside the Arab Republic of Egypt. During that period, we distinguished ourselves by exporting three types of feed types, including silage and beet bagasse pellets, the last of which is One of the outputs of sugar factories as well as corn silage. We have obtained a share of the Jordanian market for exporting corn silage as high-protein animal feed, whether for dairy farms or fattening farms. We also exported beet bagasse cans to the Arab Maghreb, and Egypt produces a very good quantity of beet bagasse cans that conform to international specifications. From 2011 until 2015, we worked in the activity of exporting hay to the United Arab Emirates, and we, as an agricultural family, seriously thought about changing the areas of small agricultural lands. A desire to expand automated agriculture, and we had already conducted feasibility studies at the time, and I was then the regional director of Al Noor Islamic Bank in Abu Dhabi and Al Ain Wealth Management since a year From 2008 until 2015, then in 2015 I resigned from the bank, and since that date we thought about agriculture, and after that date a great national agricultural project was established, specifically in 2017, which is the Egypt Agricultural Future Project, and it is located in the Dabaa axis, and it is the strongest agricultural project that Egypt has undertaken, because we When we talk about the area of all agricultural land in Egypt reaching about 9 million acres, while the Egypt Agricultural Future Project aims to cultivate 4 million acres, meaning it works to increase the agricultural area that has existed in Egypt since the Pharaohs by about 50% is a very great thing, which enhances Egyptian food security, and had it not been for the cultivation of these new agricultural areas, the situation would have been very bad and we are currently transforming Lotus Company into a company based on technology and sustainability.
How do you see the future of agriculture in Egypt?
Egypt has a great opportunity for growth, but here I mean growth with thoughtful standards, growth with feasibility studies conducted, and growth with sustainability and technology as a main goal. Our goal at Lotus Company is to focus on agricultural technology and sustainability, and therefore we went to agriculture in the south in the New Valley, and we have a thin farm there. On an area of three thousand acres in Dakhla in the New Valley, we reclaimed about 1,400 acres of it. We also have another farm on an area of one thousand acres in the Mostaqbal Misr project, from which we planted 750 acres of potatoes, in addition to partnerships and leases on Vast areas, and when we conducted feasibility studies, we found that the vast and large desert lands that are managed with modern irrigation methods give a productivity per acre of sugar beet crop of 35 tons, while the fragmented lands that are operated with traditional methods of agriculture produce, according to the per-acre productivity of the Sugar Crops Institute at the Ministry of Agriculture, about 18 tons, meaning that the agriculture that It relies on modern, water-saving irrigation in desert lands that takes into account sustainability standards, producing twice the productivity of an acre that relies on traditional irrigation methods and fragmented areas of agricultural land.
What do you think about launching the first carbon reduction market in Egypt?
The Financial Regulatory Authority, headed by Dr. Mohamed Farid, has launched the first voluntary carbon market, regulated and monitored by financial market supervisory authorities, in Egypt, through registering voluntary carbon emission reduction projects and issuing and trading carbon emission reduction certificates, between local and international parties. A creditable achievement for Ahmed Al-Sheikh, Chairman of the Egyptian Stock Exchange, Mohamed Farid, Chairman of the Financial Regulatory Authority, and before them Dr. Rami Al-Dakani, former Chairman of the Egyptian Stock Exchange, as they all had a role in creating awareness among the companies listed on The Stock Exchange recognizes the importance of reducing carbon emissions, and we are one of the pioneers in this market, and we will become one of its pioneers in the agricultural field, and we are the first to produce green sugar beets in Egypt, and we will be the first supplier of it, which has the lowest carbon emissions in huge quantities, which improves the environment and increases the life of the soil. It also reduces pollution as well as providing a dollar return that contributes to increasing foreign exchange in hard currency through the trading of carbon emission reduction certificates.
With the technological development in agricultural mechanization.. What do you think of the uses of artificial intelligence?
We currently have three thousand acres of agricultural land in Al-Owainat, and we have begun to use artificial intelligence on this area. We will use the first sensor and robot to analyze the soil and plants with an accuracy rate exceeding 95%. We have drilled wells at Ruqaya farm in Dakhla that take into account sustainability standards to preserve groundwater from leakage. We have used Aluminum and stainless steel for lining wells instead of using PVC, which has harmful effects on the soil, which increases the life of the groundwater well, conserves water, and extends the life of the well for about 50 years. At the same time, we concluded a cooperation agreement with Italian parties to encourage Agricultural companies Egyptian startups are committed to adhering to sustainability standards and using agricultural technology, with funding amounting to 900 million euros, which increases productivity and saves water in agricultural activity.
What are the challenges facing agricultural activity in Egypt?
The state has done a wonderful job, which is reclaiming vast areas of agricultural land and providing infrastructure for them. I see that the land reclamation that was carried out during the era of President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi is like a dream, but the state’s role must stop at reclamation and making the lands ready, then the state leaves agriculture to investors and the sector. The private sector, and the state should not be a competitor to the private sector in the field of agriculture because that leads to an imbalance in the market.
How can the gap be reduced to get closer to self-sufficiency for strategic crops such as wheat?
Here, I have a different point of view from others, as some believe that we should reclaim lands for growing wheat in the south, but I see the opposite. I see the cultivation of crops with a higher economic value than wheat, and as a result of the large economic returns, we can buy wheat and other things, which increases the yields and the added value. . For example, we can excel in growing oil crops such as sunflowers and olives, and we must expand in the coming period in olive cultivation as a result of the soil’s suitability to this crop, especially in the Egypt Future Project, as the soil there is an ideal environment for growing this crop, as Egypt suffers from a deficit in Oils exceeding 90%.
Lotus's profits declined during the last 9 months by 15.9%. What are the reasons for this decline?
The Egyptian market has high inflation rates that affected all agricultural companies by increasing the cost of agriculture, which put pressure on agricultural companies, and at the same time led to pressure on sugar factories, which makes us stress the necessity of market freedom and transparency according to the mechanisms of supply and demand and preventing state interference. With the activation of the commodity exchange in real terms, which is the stock exchange that started last year, and here I am wondering why its work stopped and is not activated? There is also another important point, which is the high interest rates that hinder financing for investors. Therefore, a pool must be provided to finance agricultural companies on easy terms, and the initiative launched by the state, which allows financing at an interest rate of 11 to 15%, must be expanded. The problem that I see is Inflation is caused by unavailability of goods and lack of supply.
Finally, how do you see the importance of startups, small and medium-sized companies in economic growth in Egypt?
These emerging, small and medium-sized companies are the hope and future of the economy, and it is the sector that must be supported by the state and is the one that drives the market.
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