AJSD’s Fireside Chat with IFF’s Pål M. Ladsten on Business in Africa
On the sidelines of the recently concluded 11th Africa Sugar and Ethanol Conference organized by Informa Connect which held at the Radisson Blu Hotel Upper Hill Nairobi Kenya April 24-25, 2024, we caught up with

On the sidelines of the recently concluded 11th Africa Sugar and Ethanol Conference organized by Informa Connect which held at the Radisson Blu Hotel Upper Hill Nairobi Kenya April 24-25, 2024, we caught up with Pål M. Ladsten, Africa Sales Director Health & Biosciences at International Flavours and Fragrances (IFF) for a chat with our Maurice Ekpong. Find an excerpt of the chat below:
Maurice: Nice to meet you at the 11th Africa Sugar and Ethanol Conference Pal. What are your thoughts so far on the conference?
Pål: Thanks Maurice, Day 1 has been great. The conference today has been a great platform for networking with the industry. We have all types of stakeholders and players across the sugar and bioethanol value chain. I have enjoyed the conversations, the presentations and panel discussions. Different viewpoints have emerged, even challenging comments and questions to regulators and industry on why progress is not happening faster on the continent.
Maurice: Can you tell us a little bit about IFF?
Pål: Absolutely. IFF has a long story of mergers and acquisitions in the industry. If you look at the way that I fit into it, I joined the biotech company of Genencor back in 2011. Danisco acquired Genencor, DuPont acquired Danisco and later merged the DuPont Nutrition & Biosciences Division with IFF in 2021. We are today a large multinational company with more than 20,000 employees; highly committed to bring our science and creativity at play for new innovations and with sustainability at the forefront of it all. Many of our solutions especially in the field of grain processing and bioethanol comes with a sustainability value proposition, whereby we can help producers with water and energy savings, which ultimately leads to a more efficient and profitable biorefinery operation.
Maurice: Where is IFF located? How many countries in Africa?
Pål: IFF employs more than 20,000 people globally, with more than 3,000 scientists and engineers alone in our R&D function. In Africa we are about 300 people on the ground in all four corners of the continent including North, West, East and South Africa. Most of these people are employed in South Africa where we have production, analytical labs and application labs. As I described to you, we have an office in Lagos Nigeria with about ten people in Victoria Island. We also have offices here in Nairobi Kenya, in Cairo Egypt and Casablanca Morocco.
Maurice: What opportunities and perhaps challenges do you see in the sector across Africa?
Pål: Let’s dive into Opportunities first. I see increased demand for solutions that can enhance the production of consumer goods to be more affordable. Affordability is a major driver across all food and technical industries, whether it’s to do with food and beverages or home and personal care products. All solutions that can lead to lower costs per unit whether it’s a loaf of bread, a beer or a laundry detergent that consumers can buy in retail; that is a big opportunity across the value chain. Then combine that with the need for sustainable solutions for all manufacturers to help meet each country’s or industry’s sustainability targets and ambitions. This is a huge opportunity and a chance to pioneer new innovations. In the field of biosciences, we can launch new enzymes and cultures to prolong the shelf life of bread and yogurt, enzymes for cold wash laundry detergents, or heat resistant enzymes for the production of bioethanol from local feedcrop such as cassava. This is the playing field. On the challenging side, we talked about Nigeria earlier today, Maurice. Regulators and governments can be somewhat, say, complex to work with. A good example is the National Policy of Biofuels in Nigeria, which was released in 2007. However, the mandate to blend bioethanol (E-10) with gasoline has not been enforced for more than 15 years. Unfortunately, the lack of governmental support and enforcement is not exactly stimulating FDI’s and the private sector or PPP’s to invest in new plants and projects. . But if you turn it around, it’s an opportunity for government and the private sector to come together to make things happen.
Maurice: in terms of the impact of climate change, what’s your strategy for helping the continent overcome climate change?
Pål: This is an important question and I appreciate your sincerity in asking. At IFF we are very committed to investing in various ESG activities, which is anchored in our five year plan towards 2030 named “Do More Good”. In it, we have defined four pillars: Climate and Planetary Health, Equity and Wellbeing, Transparency and Accountability, and Sustainable Solutions. Let me give you two concrete examples. Under the umbrella of Climate and Planetary Health, we have committed to a 50% reduction of the company’s direct GHG emissions. A range of initiatives and actions are implemented across manufacturing sites to achieve this target. Secondly, under the Sustainable Solutions pillar, all of our new innovations must have a compelling sustainability value proposition to pass all internal stage gates. In the context of this conference, many of our solutions for the bioethanol industry have an added benefit to the biorefinery of water or energy savings, hence it directly links to SDG 12 and 13 on climate action, responsible production and consumption.
Maurice: Excellent response. So finally, where do you see the biosciences sector in Africa by 2030?
Pål: Like Aliko Dangote, CEO of Dangote has said “To build a successful business, you must start small and dream big”. Biosciences with its enzymes, cultures, yeast and probiotics already play a significant role today as elaborated on. In fact, there are limitless opportunities for how and where the power of biosciences can expand into. . Eventually, it will be a Step by step process with new innovations driving fundamental change in the production of goods and consumer buying behaviour towards more sustainable solutions. In the grain processing and bioethanol industry, we see signs of a transformative shift towards more sustainable agricultural businesses using local climate resistant feedcrops such as cassava to produce bioethanol for fuel or clean cooking solutions. With Africa’s 700 million hectares of degraded, unused land, this type of business can contribute to a much needed land-use transition, creation of local jobs and sustainable agricultural businesses for a greener future.
Maurice: Nice speaking with you Pål. Pål M. Ladsten, Director at IFF Biosciences with a presence across the four corners of Africa and doing quite a lot of good across the continent and around the world. Thank you so much Pål for joining us. Wish you all the best.
Pål: Thank you for having me