[Music] hello and welcome to kunda we are here at fabic farms my name is amadu Cho [Music] Soko I'm a global citizen I've had the chance to travel different parts of the world I'm an agriculture investor a leadership coach consultant in Innovation and my mission on Earth is to help leaders become better so that they can serve people who follow them one of the gifts I've had is being able to learn how to build you know profitable businesses that I wanted to help more people build profitable agricultural business amadu has attempted and filled in different Endeavors throughout his life he dropped out of medical and engineering school in Czech Republic dropped out of business school in Sagal started a business there and field and after his numerous failures in life he decided to go back home to guinea to work on their family farm there he established the first AGR tourism retreat in the country launched an agro business school he was a young dynamic entrepreneur but he upen done all of that when he was chosen for yali Obama's young African leaders initiative and from there instead of going back to guine he went straight to Kenya in Kenya he got into coaching and public speaking started a farm invested in a business and pretty much lived there for nearly a decade in early 2023 he made a decision to return home back to fabric Farms where it all started and here we are operating on 72 hectar of palm trees that we process into palm oil pineapples that we process into pineapple juice this Farm Farm used to be a colonial Farm the French when they first came to guinea they identified some regions that were very good for bananas pineapples and they set up Farm there so if you take this whole region that we are in right now in kunda we have different Farmers French farmers who were installed here and then right after the independence the French left and some ginans came and started farming on them so my grandfather came here in the 19 1960s or so uh started farming on this land then in the SE regime SE any person that had some sort of Charisma or some sort of leadership if you weren't like 100% in the party and you know had your own idea would put you in jail so he was part of that group of young leaders who were put in jail and that time when he was in jail this place was abandoned nothing was happening then when he got out he got into real estate you know he had some pieces of land that he would sell build houses and rebuild so he wanted to now go and buy more land to do more of real estate so he wanted to sell this Farm by then my mom had a security company with my stepfather my mom got passionate about this because she wanted to help her father have a legacy his dream was to have palm trees so she came and said okay rather than you selling this to someone let me then buy it from you and then I'll make your dream a reality and that's how it grew in the first few years we had had you know animal husbandry cows sheep goats um we're producing pineapples and bananas and the Palms so at what point did you decide okay you you're also going in and stepping in and taking over things I came around 2008 2009 uh it was a way for me to find something to do I had failed in so many different things dropped out of medical school dropped out of engineering school dropped out of business school and I was trying to find something that I could do I didn't come to agriculture as like I'm coming to be a great farmer and I don't even I would never tell someone that I am like super passionate about farming I'm super passionate about nature and I'm super passionate about creating wealth and I was considered like a failure in my family cuz I had a scholarship went to Czech Republic dropped out dropped out again came back tried different businesses failed went to Sagal started business school dropped out like this kid is like it's crazy he what is he smoking like something's wrong with him right but I I had a vision that I wanted to help people help themselves because I grew up in a very difficult environment as a child you know my parents divorced while I was in the states as a kid where I was also I wasn't very well taken care of I was being beaten and abused so I came back home completely confused to find that my parents are separated my life is different it's better than it was you know in the states I speak English everybody speaks French and I had to like literally find my way so my entire life I believe I grew up as someone who was in between two worlds right you grew up in a good family good education but all your friends and the people you get along with are the poor people in the street so I've been like in a mix of so many different people in culture that what I always see in people is the great I always see the great in people right so I wanted a career that allowed me to live that so when I got discovered coaching I really went into coaching I focused on coaching so coming back to guinea after all those failures my mom said come back home right you will restart over I said well I don't want to come work for you I want to come and work with you right I will be your coach she said okay come and I became her coach and I came here when I came here it was like a restart for me you know so I came and I observed and I saw that there was a lot of potential but it was really not at its maximum because whenever she was in here and she was in conre with the other business things were not moving and the people were stealing they were lying they were abusing the other employees that's actually what really got me involved is that the the the guards the the workers they were being bullied by their bosses right and then when my mom comes I see those bosses act like oh mad mad all this hypocrisy you know and that's also some of the things that you see when you have parents who are successful there's a lot of Hypocrites around you know people always trying to show them that they're doing things when they're not doing them I felt like I could do something cuz I had all this knowledge and all this experience of Entrepreneurship and helping people I was like I can do this so I got into eggplants and I made money and during that same time I used to look around and say but how can we make this place more profitable right because I dropped out it didn't mean I didn't continue learning I learned more about business while I was outside of University and people who went to business school and even were working compan right so I started thinking tourism if I can get someone just like me the way I enjoy you know sitting down under a tree here writing reading if I can get someone to pay to come and do that then we can monetize so that's how slowly slowly I started taking initiative in the business until I became the MD of the business and by then I was 25 26 I had about 100 employees or so here that I was managing I've put my own money into this project I've put my own I've stayed here I've lived here and it's from here that I had the dream to go and be a world- class speaker it's from here that I had the dream to go and Inspire other people from the world it's here that I got selected to go and meet the President Obama it's here that everything I've had in my life had it from here you know from this rural Farm I want this place to be a platform on which Visionary agriculture investors and entrepreneurs can build their businesses and scale so when we started my the first entrepreneur was my younger sister cuz she also was very passionate about processing so we had a place where we used to process oil and we turned that into a a drying facility she turned it into a drying facility and she started drying fruits from drying fruits she went into processing and making juice so that's one entrepreneur that we helped from here but then there's another one who we were with this morning Salah Salah was a medical doctor who uh came here wanted to learn agriculture culture he had one month of fees when we launched the program at the time one month of fees and I asked him I said but how are you going to pay for the rest he said I'll figure it out and I love that I love that entrepreneurship drive like you right like I want to go tell stories across Africa and you get in a car and you drive around you know I love that I love people who see something in their mind and then take the risk to pursue it despite the challenges so salak came we integrated him into the program and then right after uh I got a an organization to to pay and sponsor students to come and learn here and we integrated him into that program so he didn't have to pay anymore cuz he was here so he went with those guys we taught them how to do pineapples how to do bananas vegetables and then the program we gave them tools and then I put in the program to give them land so I gave them land somewhere in the farm for them to start I'm telling you these guys went from one hect that we gave them they now have one and a half hect of their own in addition to mentoring and assisting young entrepreneurs and the farm ammadu has found a way to include people who have the passion for agriculture but do not have the time he created an option for these people to invest and profit from agriculture last year we launched the pineapple investment project this pineapple we and a lady in France are producing this this pineapple this guy also is in France uh I'll show you another one that guy is in Canada right another guys in the US so how does that work like how much do they invest in and then what are the returns and things like that so our investment model is called co-production so we invest 50% you invest 50% so let's say the cost of producing one hectare right of pineapple is $20,000 right so we're going to share that cost with you you're going to take 10,000 we're going to take 10,000 the return on investment for pineapple because it's a luxxury product right like it's a luxury y Agricultural Product so if we have invested those 20,000 we're going to get around 40 to 60% return that's what we promise our investors so let's say 40% on the bottom side so you're getting 40% over two years which is going to give you for $20,000 you're going to get $8,000 profit on top so we're going to split that $8,000 into four so you've invested 10,000 in two years you go home with $114,000 as a return that's at the minimum now the higher side we can go up to 60% so then for a $10,000 investment over two years you get 16,000 the one Hector that you have signed up for will not be shared with anyone right it's only you and us who are investing in that and we give you a title Deed on that piece of land for 2 years so I'll put like your details in the description box if people want to you know reach out or whatever your emails the guide investment guide is there the investment contract is there we share with them they review it sometimes they share with their their family members their lawyers they have a view then you know we agree and others even they they invest in in they come to visit so if they're you know from another country they're looking at different investment options and they really want to come back to Africa would tell them Guinea has very favorable laws for immigration for people who invest in agriculture so if you invest with us for example and you invest over two three four you can get the nationality of and you never know we have the biggest mining project in the world that is being developed here at Sandu which is going to open up another more infrastructure for agriculture so I'm just projecting in the future looking for people who have the same vision right and and have the capital to come and invest with us this is such a great model and I'm curious to know where he got the idea and vision to get people to invest produce together and then sell the produce to manufacturers like his sister who runs a pineapple processing Factory within the farm yeah so if if you if you go abroad I've seen that in other countries where they have these they take this land and then they subdivide it and either they sell it as real estate so people can come build houses for sale or they build a house and they sell you or they divide it and then they they rent it out for agriculture right I saw all those models so I was looking at we have 72 hectares of land here I can get people to come and I subdivide the land and say okay come and work but there's a lot of land also across can you so why would someone can go to another land right he wants to do in his village he would go do that even if you give someone land to day if they don't have the time they don't have the knowledge they don't have the resources to do it they're going to fail so I said let's study this let's study this as an investment model right let's look at how are people making money from pineapple and then how do you share that to a large number of people and the model was for us that you first have to have the land okay we have the land we have the expertise you have to have a market we have a factory so we have a market on the same farm so what's left capital Capital so capital I could raise my own Capital but the vision of you know making people wealthy you can't just think of yourself right so I'm like why don't I create a fund where people can invest with us we produce pineapple together and then when we Harvest we share the profit so it's maybe less profit for me now but in 10 years time if I've made a lot of people wealthy through this together we could be the largest Consortium of pineapple producers on the continent so if you look at it in years are like ah it makes sense to go through this hard part now of getting people involved getting people to trust getting people to invest making sure that they get their money back and then from there keep growing and then as more people trust and more people invest you know your fun keeps growing and then you can go from Pineapple to Banana to papaya to Rice you can go from Guinea to The Gambia to to to Ivory Coast to Nigeria because you have a working model and you have people who trust your business model so in a few few months we're going to harvest them we put these on top to avoid the the sunburn so tell me why pineapples to be specific like why pineapples Why not start with something else man come on why not pineapple look at my socks I told you right I have pineapple socks right you know why pineapple is the fruit like orange that is produced in just a few countries but consumed in every country in the world because there are factories across the world in countries that don't produce these fruits that actually import these fruits process them and then serve their populations that's why it's also expensive to produce right if I want to do one hectare of pepper it could cost me maybe ,500 maximum $3,000 I'll do a Hector well for a Hector of pineapples I'm in the $220,000 investment but the return is also greater takes it cycle is about 18 months from the moment you plant before you get the fruit it's a great product for me that I've grown up with uh my country is uniquely positioned right like I got people who when they saw what we're doing here they said okay why don't you come and do this pineapple in The Gambia right that's how I you know when I went to visit I was like I would love to but it's not possible to do it at the scale of this in The Gambia because one how are you where you going to get 50 60 100 acres of land that you can irrigate right uh that is land is there no land is there but the type of land that you can be able to grow pineapple on right that's what that's that's what you're not going to get right secondly when you look at the the rain right you want rain here we have maybe six months of rain right so if you have six months of rain you know uh in your 18 month cycle you have 12 months right that you'll be watering but if you have only two months of rain if you have only three months of rain and maybe the rain is very short or the rain is very intense you're going to be watering for a large amount of and that's a cost that you have to bear where are you getting that water from right so in in in The Gambia for examp I would do peanuts I do mangoes right you have very great mango export you have good cashew export you have tourism and ecotourism so every country every region has its its strength we are a mining an agricultural country right like I I urge people come invest in a country like this before or people understand right because we're in eoas I can go invest in The Gambia today build a hotel in The Gambia why not I know tourism in The Gambia is much better than tourism in Guinea we have a lot of Tourism potential but the infrastructure is not the same as in The Gambia so why would I uh spend a million dollars building you know a world-class retreat in Guinea and then having to convince people to come to guinea when there are people already coming in The Gambia I can go build that Retreat there and I already have customers even before I launch right but why would I go and build a multi-million dollar pineapple project in The Gambia right where I have no guarantee that I'm going to have enough water enough land and uh the the the market is there but it's not the Gambia the market would be Sagal the market would be exactly it would be export the goal in the vision is to be the largest exporter of pineapple in the world by 2035 2040 I believe we can achieve that we can be amongst the top right because in the colonial times guinea was one of the world's largest exporters of bananas these lands were occupied by the French they were producing bananas here there was a railroad that the bananas go here on the railroad they go straight to the port and they go to France right the French when they did the map of West Africa Guinea was positioned as as a agricultural Hub right so for me being a leader Third Generation in this business buiness it's my responsibility also to use what I have found and add on to it to be able to now Elevate the country you know my mom came her vision was to elevate the community for me I want to really Elevate the agricultural industry of the country right show people that you know um we can do great things even despite all the challenges we have this sector is resilient there's going to be a World War III there's going to be challenges there's going to be political riots there's going to be whatever but if if you have crops in the soil if your money is in food you're going to get get that money back I asked him what advice he has for young Africans like myself who want to contribute positively on the continent since he has trained some of the most promising young leaders and entrepreneurs on the continent I would say first of all know your strengths right what are you strong in what is special about you second what are the lwh hanging opportunities around you for what you know and what you have as a special to be expressed but to find that out you have to look for problems what are the problems in your environment that you can solve using your gifts don't go solve a problem that is far once you if you've not solved a problem that is near after You' found the problems and the opportunities to solve fix yourself measurable goals say okay by this date in 10 years this is who I want to be like go 10 years in the future like 2034 and talk as the guy of 2034 talk to the guy of now and tell them this is what you will do you will accomplish this and this and this right right set goals 10 years in the future and then start for the next 100 days so you have your vision in 1020 years we're going to make of Guinea the agricultural Hub a Powerhouse in West Africa in Africa what can I do now now now now is I need to secure investors for this now now now I needs to get a good team now now now I needs to automate my system now now now I need to do this and that now that that you need to do in the 100 days is a small it doesn't need to be big just something small what small thing can you do so that you in yourself you feel every day I am moving one step forward exactly that one step forward towards your dream when it's consistent your dream is also walking towards you which Industries would you advise people to invest in in Africa people would say I'm biased because I'm in agriculture let's just forget agriculture cuz people are say I'm biased but for me um the one thing I wouldn't tell people about looking at a sector I would say develop your Innovative mind right because at first you're not necessarily going to prosper in the sector that you want or the sector that you think is hot it's the one that's going to work for you at that particular time that's that's how I look at it is your passion doesn't necessarily going to lead you to profit right you may be passionate about something you love doing it you have some skills in it but it doesn't make money in your place in the environment you're in follow the money first right try out different things until you build up some capital for yourself once you have Capital then you can now invest in things that can now grow but you have to try things to see what you're good at and what pays you back that's why I say develop your Innovative thinking because Innovative thinking means you do things that lead to Prof Prof not just new creating a new product that doesn't sell is not Innovation to me right it has to either save you money or make you gain money so wherever you're already making money is where you should be improving now when you have the money and you have the knowledge of your ecosystem you can now identify businesses that work for you and that grow your money I don't have a degree I don't have any type of engineering agricultural background but I I saw how to turn this into a prophet so we have to change our mindset and stop saying oh I have to be this we're not a continent where opportunities are a dime a dozen for everybody you can just become whoever you want to be that's not reality in our continent poverty is there disease is there corruption is Extreme there are uh uh authoritarian governments restrictions we live in a very difficult environment more difficult than what we see on YouTube and in movies so let's stop dreaming about saying oh I I can be whoever I dream to it's not true for you to be whoever you want to be first you have to be someone you don't want to be until you get to where you want to be so I tell people find your way Find Your Way by where are you making an income because in Africa the job is the biggest impact one can create by creating a job you're changing someone's life you're giving them dignity that they don't have to beg anyone to have a living you see all those guys who are working there every time they get paid they get to feed their families they don't go beg anyone for anything so they can walk proud in in their families in their neighborhood they can walk proud because they know my work my sweat gives me a resource so yeah that's pretty much it thank you so much for watching and this was a very you know insightful interesting inspiring video my pleasure man thank you for coming to guinea and I have to say you are going to be one of the greatest entrepreneurs in this continent I guarantee you 100% I can I can put I can put my head to cut on that because for the past 10 15 years I've been training coaching the most promising young people on the continent and when I watch one video I heard you talking I was like this young man is going to be someone great and now God has brought us together so definitely we're going to do great things together thank you so much brother
