For OCP Africa, the approach is clear: deliver the right product with the right support and finance, then localize manufacturing where demand warrants it – a model already boosting margins and farm productivity.
With its eyes fixed on transforming African farming, OCP Africa has entrusted the leadership of its continental strategy to Hajar Alafifi, who assumes the role of CEO effective September 1. This strategic move brings home one of Morocco’s most accomplished international executives to spearhead the group’s ambitious continental vision.
Born and educated in Casablanca, Alafifi represents the pinnacle of Moroccan talent on the world stage. A graduate of ENCG Casablanca, she embarked on an impressive career trajectory that took her from initial positions at Unilever Morocco to increasingly significant roles across multiple continents.
Over her two-decade journey with the consumer goods giant, Alafifi steadily climbed the corporate ladder, holding key positions in London, the Netherlands, and South Africa before making her mark in Southeast Asia.
Her professional evolution included roles as Regional Brand Manager, Senior Global Brand Manager, Brand Development Director for Europe, and CMO for global brands including Sun, Domestos, and CIF, where she led billion-dollar brands across four continents.
A Moroccan executive with global impact, her international career reached its apex when she was appointed Chairperson and General Manager of Unilever Sri Lanka, becoming the first Moroccan to lead a major subsidiary of this size in the region.
Most recently, she served as GM for Southeast Asia and Indonesia Nutrition at Unilever, further broadening her expertise in emerging markets.
“This designation marks a new stage in the company’s development strategy on the continent,” said OCP Africa in its announcement, stressing the significance of bringing such accomplished talent to lead its African operations.
Leadership philosophy and recognition
Throughout her career, Alafifi has distinguished herself not merely through business results but through transformative leadership. In Sri Lanka, she implemented progressive workplace policies that achieved gender parity and introduced specialized leave provisions, while also launching campaigns against domestic violence.
Her management approach is built on three clear principles: deep cultural understanding to ensure products meet local consumer needs; rapid, responsive innovation; and authentic leadership characterized by clarity and composure, particularly during challenging circumstances.
This distinctive leadership style earned her the Global Leader of the Year Award, a prestigious international recognition celebrating the world’s most inspiring executives.
True to her collaborative philosophy, upon receiving this honor, she remarked, “This is not my success, it’s that of an entire team.”
Taking the helm at OCP Africa
The decision by Mostafa Terrab, President of OCP Group, to bring Alafifi back to Morocco represents a strategic bet on combining global expertise with deep African understanding.
She succeeds Mohamed Hettiti, who had been serving in an interim capacity, successfully maintaining operational continuity and advancing strategic initiatives during the transition period.
With her appointment, OCP Africa gains a leader who brings fresh perspective on emerging markets, having navigated complex economic environments, diverse consumer landscapes, and significant operational challenges while building trusted brands and resilient value chains.
Alafifi brings extensive experience from her tenure at a Fortune 500 international group, and the Board of Directors has expressed confidence that her proven track record in driving transformation projects in complex contexts, coupled with her commitment to sustainability and ESG principles, aligns perfectly with OCP Africa’s evolving vision and strategic priorities.
OCP Group: A global phosphate powerhouse with African ambitions
Alafifi joins OCP Africa at a pivotal moment in the parent company’s development. OCP Group, Morocco’s state-owned phosphate and fertilizer leader, has been delivering impressive financial results while simultaneously implementing ambitious sustainability initiatives.
In 2024, the Group reported revenues of MAD 96.99 billion (approximately US$9.76 billion) with a robust 40% EBITDA margin, representing substantial growth from 2023 as fertilizer sales increased and Triple Super Phosphate (TSP) exports surged by 48%. Fertilizers now comprise 69% of total revenue, showing the strategic importance of this segment.
The foundation of OCP’s global strength lies in its control of what is often cited as 68% of global phosphate rock reserves, providing long-term security of supply for Africa’s fertilizer needs.
This natural advantage underpins the Group’s ambitious “Green Investment Program” for 2023-2027, valued at approximately $12-13 billion, which aims to expand capacity while transitioning toward carbon-neutral operations by 2040.
Major milestones in this sustainability journey include the utilization of 63 million cubic meters of desalinated water in 2024 and the successful injection of the first green kilowatt-hour at Benguerir.
New capacity developments at Jorf Lasfar (sulfuric acid lines, +1 Mt DAP-equivalent unit) and a TSP hub coming online from 2025 position the Group to serve fast-growing African and global demand; in 2024 alone, TSP volumes rose 48% with notable uptake in India and Brazil.
OCP Africa: Transforming continental agriculture
As the dedicated African subsidiary of OCP Group, OCP Africa executes a distinct strategy centered on “localization”: establishing blending and production facilities close to farmers, developing country-specific product formulas, and providing services that reduce adoption risks for smallholders.
The subsidiary’s customization process begins with comprehensive soil mapping, followed by tailoring N-P-K and micronutrient balances to specific agricultural needs, and where feasible, implementing local production.
This approach has led to significant investments across the continent, including the acquisition and operation of blending facilities in Ethiopia and the development of blending units in Nigeria (Ogun, Kaduna, and Sokoto).
A memorandum of understanding and joint venture (MoU/JV) with the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority aims to develop an industrial platform for ammonia and fertilizers, while a state-backed complex in Akwa Ibom was announced at $1.5 billion, alongside approximately $43 million allocated for blending plants.
Similar country programs in Ghana, Ethiopia, and other nations are structured around value-chain partnerships with governments, agribusiness, and research organizations to scale the adoption of appropriate fertilizers for local soils.
Farmer services constitute the second pillar of OCP Africa’s strategy. Through the Agribooster program, the company delivers a comprehensive package of inputs (fertilizer, seed, crop protection), training, market off-take, and finance/insurance.
This initiative has reached approximately 600,000 smallholder farmers, achieving average yield increases of 33% across maize, rice, millet, and sorghum value chains.
Complementing this is the mobile “OCP School Lab,” which brings free on-site soil tests and training directly to remote villages, building farmer confidence and promoting proper application practices.
The impact has been measurable: independent reporting shows that in Nigeria, fertilizer use tripled with yields increasing by about 27% since 2016, while in Ethiopia, yields rose by approximately 37% while farmers’ fertilizer expenditure decreased by about one-fifth – demonstrating how customized recommendations can simultaneously enhance productivity and input efficiency.
Financing and strategic alliances form the third component of the strategy. In 2024, OCP launched an international bond roadshow (up to $2 billion) to fund its development plan and subsequently completed a $2 billion Eurobond, later expanding it by an additional $300 million. The Group also issued MAD-denominated bonds to support its capital expenditure program.
On the developmental finance front, OCP partnered with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) to establish an agri-finance platform targeting $800 million in blended capital by 2030 to scale resilient African food systems.
Energy partnerships further extend the decarbonization initiative: OCP and Fortescue announced a joint venture to develop green hydrogen/ammonia and fertilizers (with an R&D hub in Marrakesh), while a separate framework with Engie envisions multi-billion-euro investments in renewables, desalination, and green molecules for OCP’s Moroccan sites.
In West Africa, OCP Africa’s joint venture with Nigeria’s NSIA (within the Presidential Fertilizer Initiative) aims to localize ammonia/fertilizer value chains and improve input affordability at scale.
A forward-looking African strategy
Looking ahead, OCP’s African strategy aligns its industrial expansion directly with continental food-security goals.
The foundation of this approach is greener, more resilient infrastructure – solar phases nearing completion, water pipelines, and desalination to reduce dependence on hydrological conditions – while university-led soil-mapping and agronomy research (conducted through UM6P) extend the data layer into more than ten African countries.
For OCP Africa under Alafifi’s leadership, the path forward is clear: deliver the right product in the right place with appropriate support and financing, then localize manufacturing where demand warrants it. This model has already strengthened OCP Group’s margins while delivering measurable productivity gains for African farmers.
With Hajar Alafifi at the helm, OCP Africa gains not just an executive with global credentials, but a Moroccan leader who understands that performance metrics only matter when they translate to tangible social and environmental impact – a philosophy perfectly aligned with the continental ambitions of one of Africa’s most important agricultural enablers.
source/content: moroccoworldnews.com (headline edited)
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