Yemisi Iranloye
Our new e-book, How we made it in Africa II: Actual tales of entrepreneurs turning alternative into revenue, is obtainable right here.
Interview with Yemisi Iranloye
FOUNDER and CEO, PSALTRY INTERNATIONAL
Lives in: Nigeria
Cassava is a root crop that resembles a big candy potato. Nigeria produces and consumes extra of it than another nation. Most frequently, it’s processed into garri or fufu, that are eaten as thick, dough-like accompaniments used to scoop up conventional soups and stews.
Nonetheless, cassava additionally has main industrial purposes. The roots might be processed into starch, ethanol, glucose syrup and flour. Amongst its many makes use of, meals firms depend on the starch as a binder to carry elements collectively, and additionally it is a key element in corrugated cardboard containers. Moreover, as a result of the crop is of course gluten-free, cassava flour serves as a substitute for wheat flour, creating alternatives within the well being and wellness market.
Nigerian entrepreneur Yemisi Iranloye recognised this industrial potential. At 40, she stop formal employment to focus full-time on her cassava processing enterprise, Psaltry Worldwide. Her very first shopper for the starch was meals large Nestlé in Nigeria.
Jaco Maritz, editor-in-chief of How we made it in Africa, spoke to Iranloye about how she constructed her enterprise.
Subjects mentioned in the course of the interview embody:
Cassava’s industrial potential
Transitioning from employment to entrepreneurship
Key entrepreneurship classes realized
Nigeria’s untapped agribusiness alternatives
The significance of delayed gratification
Watch the complete interview under:
Our new e-book, How we made it in Africa II: Actual tales of entrepreneurs turning alternative into revenue, is obtainable right here.
Yemisi Iranloye earned a meals biochemistry diploma from the Federal College of Expertise Minna in 1997. She accomplished her grasp’s in biochemistry and diet on the College of Ibadan in 2000.
A yr later, she joined Ekha Agro Processing in Lagos, an organization that transformed cassava into glucose syrup.
In 2005, whereas nonetheless working at Ekha Agro, she purchased her first piece of land in Oyo State. Unable to afford the complete value upfront, she paid for the property in instalments over three years.
Farming started as a weekend interest. Her preliminary purpose was stem multiplication: rising higher types of cassava. She shared these superior stems with neighbouring small-scale farmers to assist enhance their crop yields.
Psaltry Worldwide’s manufacturing unit
Going all in
In 2011, on the age of 40, Iranloye stop her job to run her cassava enterprise full-time. She constructed a small home on the farm, moved there with a handful of employees, and commenced sourcing cassava from an preliminary group of 17 small-scale farmers.
She secured a mortgage to fund her first manufacturing unit. It was a 20-tonne-per-day cassava starch facility, constructed with tools imported from China.
Nigeria already had some cassava starch processors. Iranloye’s edge was her location. Cassava spoils quickly after harvest. By constructing her manufacturing unit immediately subsequent to small-scale farmers, she processed the crop sooner and achieved a a lot larger high quality.
In 2013, Nestlé took samples of the preliminary batch of cassava starch and have become Psaltry’s first buyer. From there, different purchasers like Unilever, Nigerian Breweries, and Promasidor additionally got here on board.
A second manufacturing unit adopted in 2015. With it, the corporate started producing cassava flour.
Subsequent got here a sorbitol plant in 2022. Sorbitol is a pure sweetener utilized in toothpaste and different oral care merchandise. Accustomed to Psaltry’s constant starch output, Unilever approached the corporate to provide sorbitol. In response to Iranloye, most producers beforehand imported sorbitol from Asia.
Over time, Psaltry has expanded its provider base to incorporate 16,000 small-scale farmers.
Early challenges
Psaltry’s early challenges stemmed immediately from the positioning’s location. “The manufacturing unit was in the course of nowhere,” Iranloye says.
Missing primary infrastructure, the corporate needed to assemble its personal entry street. Electrical energy was non-existent within the rural space, forcing Psaltry to herald its personal turbines. Later, the corporate was in a position to acquire electrical energy from the nationwide grid.
Water was one other drawback. The one water supply was a small stream that disappeared in the course of the dry months. To deal with the scarcity, the corporate constructed boreholes – first for the group in 2011, after which for the manufacturing unit itself.
Cassava is a root crop that resembles a big candy potato.
Rising competitors
When Iranloye started producing cassava starch, there have been few opponents. Nonetheless, right this moment, she notes there are no less than 20 different producers in Nigeria.
Alongside this elevated provide, demand for regionally produced cassava elements has additionally surged. “Particularly with the foreign exchange points Nigeria went by within the final 5 years, extra firms are seeing the explanation why they need to purchase native,” the CEO says, referencing the naira’s current depreciation.
Different promising crops
Past cassava, Iranloye sees main enterprise alternatives in candy potatoes and coconuts.
Candy potatoes, she says, have a excessive starch content material and are naturally gluten-free, making them perfect for industrial purposes.
Coconuts are one other promising crop. Apart from offering high-quality cooking oil, nearly each a part of the coconut has industrial worth. “There’s virtually no a part of coconuts that can’t give cash,” Iranloye explains.
Classes realized
Trying again on her entrepreneurship journey, Iranloye says ardour is a requirement. “I don’t know if anybody can survive within the agri area with out having a ardour for it … As a result of that’s what helps you when issues will not be going properly.”
She additionally stresses the significance of deferred gratification. Entrepreneurs shouldn’t take an excessive amount of cash from an organization earlier than it matures, nor ought to they deal with enterprise income as private revenue. “You might be separate from the enterprise; you’re a completely completely different entity from the enterprise,” Iranloye says. “When you ever need to see the enterprise of your dream, then you should defer gratification right this moment in order that the enterprise grows into the enterprise of your dream.”
Persistence is equally key. “Even if you happen to don’t know what you might be doing, simply maintain at it,” Iranloye says. She notes that when she began, she didn’t have a transparent thought of what the enterprise can be, however as she went alongside, issues began to disclose themselves.
