Sadio Mane is making a $20.4 million investment into a major farm project in his native Bambali as he continues to build his legacy outside the pitch.
The ex-Liverpool and Bayern Munich star is investing 11.7 billion CFA francs in SM10 AGRO, an agro-industrial company dedicated to developing the mango industry in Senegal. The project will begin with the planting of 500 hectares of mango and is expected to generate nearly 1,000 jobs.
Around 78,000 mango trees are expected to be planted with an average crop being achieved in three years’ time.
SM10 AGRO will produce on average 8,500 tonnes of mango per year of mango through processing into mango pulp, dried fruit and mango butter, while sorting and exporting fresh produce.
The project is intended to counteract problems with fresh mangoes having a short shelf life. Only a fraction of mangoes exported from Senegal, which has a huge volume of mangoes to Europe, are processed into products in the country.
Mane’s investment will see a significant increase in locally processed mango and ultimately the range of products exported in Africa, Europe and the Middle East.
The foundation stone for the new factory is set to be laid on September 19, while an agricultural college is also set to be part of the project.
The investment is in addition to previous projects of funding by Man, including a hospital, school, stadium and free internet access in Bambali.
