How this entrepreneur turned Nigeria’s cassava into a thriving business

Yemisi Iranloye quit her job to build an agribusiness company with clients like Nestlé and Unilever.

Yemisi Iranloye

Our new book, How we made it in Africa II: Real stories of entrepreneurs turning opportunity into profit, is available here.

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Interview with Yemisi Iranloye
FOUNDER and CEO, PSALTRY INTERNATIONAL

Lives in: Nigeria

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Cassava is a root crop that resembles a large sweet potato. Nigeria produces and consumes more of it than any other country. Most often, it is processed into garri or fufu, which are eaten as thick, dough-like accompaniments used to scoop up traditional soups and stews.

However, cassava also has major industrial applications. The roots can be processed into starch, ethanol, glucose syrup and flour. Among its many uses, food companies rely on the starch as a binder to hold ingredients together, and it is also a key component in corrugated cardboard boxes. Additionally, because the crop is naturally gluten-free, cassava flour serves as an alternative to wheat flour, creating opportunities in the health and wellness market.

Nigerian entrepreneur Yemisi Iranloye recognised this industrial potential. At 40, she quit formal employment to focus full-time on her cassava processing venture, Psaltry International. Her very first client for the starch was food giant Nestlé in Nigeria.

Jaco Maritz, editor-in-chief of How we made it in Africa, spoke to Iranloye about how she built her business.

Topics discussed during the interview include:

• Cassava’s industrial potential

• Transitioning from employment to entrepreneurship

• Key entrepreneurship lessons learned

• Nigeria’s untapped agribusiness opportunities

• The importance of delayed gratification