WEST AFRICA – The Russian Fishing Company (RFC) has unveiled plans of expanding into the West African markets under its aggressive expansion plan.

According to the Chief Executive Officer of the RFC, Mr. Fedo Kisanov, the firm is looking forward to increasing its volume sales of pollock and herring fish in West African countries in the next few years.

Kisanov disclosed that before now China was traditionally its biggest market for this species of fish, adding that the firm hopes to expand its market share in Africa.

“Traditionally, China was our main export market for Pacific herring but Africa promises to catch up in volume sales in the coming years.

“Currently, RFC is focused mainly on Nigeria but we plan to expand our presence in the Africa market as we believe the demand for Pelagic species in Africa will increase in the future.

“Last year, RFC sold around 10,000 tonnes of Pacific herring in Nigeria through the Stallion Group, one of the leading West Africa conglomerates.

“This year, the company will continue the partnership, RFC and Stallion Group’s representatives took the opportunity to discuss prospects for further cooperation.”

The company is seeking to make more inroads into Nigeria, Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire among other African countries.

Mr. Jeykumar Ponraj, the Stallion Group Executive Director, commended the RFC saying, “Russian Fishery Company is a reliable partner and we are looking forward to develop our partnership further.”

The firm has also planned construction of four vessels and a coastal plant in the Northern Fishery Basin with daily capacity of 25 metric tons and has also commenced  installation of whitefish processing equipment at their new factory.

“The RFC is focused on active and long-term development. As part of the investment quota program, we are building six super-trawlers and two fish processing plants.

RFC will have a fleet of a new level of efficiency and safety and will provide the possibility of processing up to 100 percent of the catch into high-value-added products,” Kisanov added.

According to an ICIR report, Nigeria is the fourth largest importer of fish in the world following China, Japan and the United States with only a few companies exporting shrimps and smoked catfish sourced from aquaculture.

The country’s top suppliers are the United States and Chile but also sources fish from Europe, Asia, and a few African countries, including Mauritania, Algeria, and Mauritius.