Originally published by Trade Hub Communications

As part of Banyan Global’s work on the United States Agency for International Development-funded West Africa Trade and Investment Hub, two of our team members, Jean-Francois Guay and Charles Adegnandjou, attended the 2016 Salon International Bétail-Viande de l’Afrique de l’Ouest (SIBVAO) in Abidjan to discuss issues surrounding the meat and livestock industry in West Africa. The SIBVAO is an annual gathering of livestock and meat industry professionals that brings together actors from various levels of the value chain in order to further the professionalization, modernization, and profitability of the sector. The industry gathering also focused on issues such as sector diversification, competitiveness, and environmental preservation. Mr. Adegnandjou, a finance expert working with Banyan Global on this project, spoke to the Ivorian news channel @bidj@n.net about the informal nature of the livestock industry in West Africa and emphasized the need for systematic professionalization in the sector, particularly with regard to investment.

Banyan Global is a subcontractor to Abt Associates on the West Africa Trade Hub Project.