After promising to transform a vast stretch of land in Senegal—about twice the size of Paris—into a thriving agricultural project and create thousands of jobs, a U.S. company has left behind rusting pipes, an abandoned field, and unpaid workers.
The company, African Agriculture, had grand plans to grow alfalfa for export to the Gulf nations, but, according to interviews with local residents and company insiders, these plans quickly fell apart. The project was part of a growing trend of foreign investment in Africa, where nearly 60% of the world’s untapped arable land is located. However, many such projects, like this one, often fail, unnoticed by the public.
Documents reviewed reveal how the company’s plans for exporting animal feed to wealthy Gulf countries—endorsed by the Senegalese government—crumbled.
At first glance, the land near Senegal’s edge of the Sahara Desert doesn’t seem ideal for farming. But, with climate change affecting other regions, foreign investors have increasingly turned their attention to Africa. Between 2000 and 2020, a third of the world’s large-scale land acquisitions occurred in Africa, mostly for agricultural purposes. However, 23% of these projects ultimately failed, despite ambitious goals to feed the world.
In 2021, the Senegalese village of Niéti Yone welcomed two investors, Frank Timis and Gora Seck, from African Agriculture. Over sweet green tea, they promised to create hundreds, then thousands, of local jobs. Timis, a Romanian-born mining magnate, held the majority stake, while Seck, a Senegalese mining investor, had previously overseen a failed biofuel project on the same land. He sold a 50-year lease for 20,000 hectares to Timis for $7.9 million.
The company hoped to grow alfalfa and export it to Saudi Arabia and the UAE, who typically buy the crop from the U.S. But with a 38% drop in alfalfa production in those countries due to climate change, the plan seemed promising—though it divided the local community. While herders, who had used the land for generations, opposed the project, others, like Doudou Ndiaye Mboup, believed it could help tackle Senegal’s unemployment crisis.
Mboup, who eventually became an electrician with the company and later led a workers’ union, said, “I bought their dream. I saw thousands of young Africans with jobs and prosperity.” However, despite some local opposition, African Agriculture moved forward, hiring around 70 of the community’s 10,000 residents.
Fast forward a year, and the company had planted a 300-hectare pilot plot of alfalfa, and announced plans to go public. African Agriculture initially valued itself at $450 million, but many experts, like those at the Oakland Institute, were skeptical of the valuation and criticized the environmental impact of the project. The company went public in December 2023, raising $22.6 million, but had to pay $19 million to the company it merged with—raising red flags for investors.
Just one year later, the company’s stock was nearly worthless. Security guards now patrol the land, preventing herders and farmers from using it. African Agriculture has been delisted, and the workers who were promised jobs have been left in limbo.
Mboup and others say they haven’t been paid for six months and are now seeking about $180,000 in unpaid wages. In February, frustrated workers staged protests outside the company’s office, and Mboup says an agreement was made to pay the back wages in June.
“I took out loans to build a house and now I can’t pay it back,” Mboup shared. “I’ve sold my motorbike and sheep to feed my children and send them to school, but many aren’t as lucky.”
The failed project has created a divide in the local community. While some residents have urged the Senegalese government to allow them to use the land, the chances of that happening are slim. Studies show that, in most foreign land deals, the land is either left unused or handed over to other investors.
Deputy mayor Bayal Sow warned, “We want to work with the government to fix this situation. If not, we will fight.”
For herder Adama Sow, the impact has been devastating. “Before, we lived in peace, but now there’s conflict for those of us who supported them.”
