Water disaster poses better threat to meals safety than conflict in Ukraine: Omnia CEO

All CEO Seelan Gobalsamy.

• Based on Seelan Gobalsamy, CEO of Omnia, water issues – pushed by local weather change – will see Africa grapple with meals crises for many years to return.
• Chad and Nigeria are among the many international locations battling floods, and greater than 400 individuals died when torrential rains hit eThekwini.
• Gobalsamy mentioned tThe impression of local weather change on shoppers, the surroundings and companies might be “large within the many years to return”.
• For extra monetary information, go to The entrance web page of News24 Enterprise.

One among Africa’s largest producers of agricultural chemical compounds says erratic rains and water shortages are the largest threat to meals safety on the continent, extra so than Russia’s conflict on Ukraine or different provide chain disruptions.

These water issues – pushed by local weather change – will see African international locations grapple with meals crises for many years to return, mentioned Seelan Gobalsamy, managing director of Omnia Holdings in South Africa, on Monday. Insufficient infrastructure to maneuver main agricultural merchandise will trigger additional issues, he mentioned.

“When the solar is shining it is tougher and when it is raining it is available in buckets,” the CEO mentioned in Bloomberg’s Johannesburg workplace, hours earlier than one of many strongest summer time hailstorms to hit the town. have identified for years.

“In case you ask me what’s our largest threat going ahead, is it Russia’s conflict on Ukraine or the provision chain? It is truly local weather change.

“The impression of local weather change on shoppers, on the surroundings and on companies might be large within the many years to return.”

Sub-Saharan Africa has been hit this yr by a sequence of devastating climate-related climate occasions. Chad and Nigeria are among the many international locations battling floods, and greater than 400 individuals died when torrential rains hit the South African metropolis of Durban. A sequence of cyclones have hit Madagascar and Mozambique whereas massive swaths of the Horn of Africa are experiencing the worst drought in 4 many years.

On the similar time, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine decreased imports of wheat and different important foodstuffs to the continent.

“Water is crucial factor proper now,” Gobalsamy mentioned. In South Africa, “we’ve got getting old infrastructure and the water provide is disrupted. We had good rains final yr for instance, and we have to deal with tips on how to seize them.”

Most African international locations are semi-arable, which implies they should be extra environment friendly with water, the CEO mentioned. Omnia has invested in a 180,000 megalitre-per-year reverse osmosis plant and is contemplating all different choices to “seize water, recycle water and use water sparingly”, he mentioned. The Johannesburg-based firm can be doubling its photo voltaic electrical energy provide by constructing one other 5 megawatt plant.

Omnia restructured the corporate and appealed to shareholders for a R2 billion rights concern in 2019. Shares have since climbed 151%. The corporate will contemplate offers in its agro-bio and mining companies, in international locations together with Australia, Indonesia and Canada, Globalsamy mentioned. Nevertheless, “we won’t make an acquisition that doesn’t meet our ESG aims,” he mentioned.