About us
Africa Rice, Vietnam Expertise
Our story
On a trip to Nigeria in 2012, our founder visited a rice farm in Niger State which had just been devastated by a historic flood. Nigeria, like many in West Africa, was dependent on rice import s since local production was deficient in both cultivation area and yield. Water management was (and still is) a major issue. Originally from Vietnam, our founder felt we could make a difference here and steered the company (up until then an adviser to banks) exclusively to rice farming.
Africa Rice, Vietnam Expertise
Vietnam and West Africa share similar agro-ecological conditions; however, Vietnam is a leading exporter of rice while Africa remains a major importer. This early insight was a reason that we have been designing, building, or operating 100k ha rice land in 30+ projects across the entire West Africa region. GMX leverages established expertise in rice from Vietnam, along with cutting-edge agricultural technology, to advise investors on commercial rice farming in Africa.
Collaboration with "Dr. Rice"
Dr. Vo Tong Xuan (1940-2024) - Dr. Rice - was a renowned agronomist from Vietnam who was credited for his contribution to Vietnam's becoming a top rice exporter (from an importer). Dr. Rice had started bringing Vietnam's rice know-how to Africa (Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Mozambique) by the time GMX switched our focus to rice. Dr. Rice then became our Chief Agronomic Advisor and was instrumental in sourcing Vietnamese rice experts as well as leading our agronomic practice in early projects. Here, Dr. Rice and our founder discussed rice growing practices with a farmer in Guinea.