A project team consisting of five MBA students from the McDonough School of Business completed a project in correlation with Securitas, which examined the feasibility of developing an aquaculture feed production plant in South Africa.
The project team had a period of twelve weeks, culminating with a week in Johannesburg, South Africa, to deliver its presentation.
The objective was to determine whether investment in a fish feed plant could deliver a nominal rate of return of 18% or higher and, if so, which partners Securitas should work with to pursue the venture. Oceanwise Ltd. (Oceanwise), a South African aquaculture producer of Dusky Kob fish, was identified as one potential partner, and an American animal feed manufacturer, was another.
Two different investment options were identified: A smaller bolt-on retrofit production line and a new greenfield plant, were analyzed to gauge their potential profitability.
To evaluate this business opportunity, market forecasts for the aquaculture industries in numerous Sub-Saharan African countries were developed to gauge the size of the region’s potential customer demand. Nigeria and Ghana were revealed to be much larger markets than South Africa, though the prospect of serving these markets via export poses considerable challenges.
