Mitsui to refortify African business

February 28, 2018

Tokyo- Major Japanese trading house Mitsui & Co. plans to refortify its business in Africa by expanding not only mainstay resources operations but also other businesses such as agriculture and power generation, the company's president, Tatsuo Yasunaga, has said.

"First of all, we'll concentrate on East Africa," Yasunaga said in a recent interview with Jiji Press.

The company expects that a deal late last year to invest in Dubai-based ETC Group Ltd., which undertakes trading of farm products and sales of agricultural materials in Africa, will serve as a springboard to the business expansion.

Since 2000, Mitsui has substantially curtailed its business footholds in Africa. In anticipation of economic growth and stabilization of political situations in the region, however, the company is poised to explore markets there on a full scale again, according to Yasunaga.

Meanwhile, Yasunaga expressed his eagerness to strengthen collaboration with Japanese retail giant Seven & i Holdings Co. , in which the trader holds a 1.8 percent equity stake.

Expecting growth in demand for prepared foods at convenience stores both in Japan and abroad, Mitsui has purchased a U.S. sandwich provider jointly with a Japanese delicatessen food maker.

In Japan, the company plans to accelerate the installation of solar power generation facilities at convenience stores run by Seven-Eleven Japan Co., a Seven & i Holdings unit, in a bid to prevent a rise in electric power costs for managing prepared foods.

Rival traders including Mitsubishi Corp. and Itochu Corp. have strengthened their ties with affiliated convenience stores.

But Yasunaga denied a possibility of Mitsui boosting its stake in Seven & i Holdings. "It's important to provide functions and services that are necessary for the company," he stressed. Jiji Press