DRC's struggling tea factory [Business Africa]

The ‘‘Tea Garden of Ngeri’‘ is known for growing, harvesting and processing tea, a venture so often missing in African economies. Despite being in a sorry state and in dire need of investments, this tea factory in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo manages to operate at just 10 percent of its capacity. Today, the factory which was run by a subsidiary of Unilever is now owned by four shareholders. These individuals rarely visit the tea factory due to insecurity.

And Togo has 3.5 million hectares of arable land, but only 45 percent of those are valued. This means more than 50 percent of arable land is left to waste. And as a country which has agriculture accounting for 40 percent of its gross domestic product, there’s the need for someone to step it up. And that’s where one farmer, Daniel Agblevon comes in to attract investors both home and abroad.

The problem of the different communities is first and foremost a problem of unemployment.