Argus Fertilizer Africa Conference

Joel Laurent

Executive Director, TFRA

Patrick Heffer

Deputy Director General, IFA

Patrick Heffer joined the International Fertilizer Association (IFA) in Paris in 2002, where he is Senior Director of the Agriculture Service. In this capacity, he coordinates IFA’s global activities relating to fertilizer consumption. In addition, at the regional level, Patrick leads IFA’s Africa programme. More specifically, his duties focus on agronomic, market and policy issues that relate to fertilizer and nutrient management in a global context. Before joining IFA, Patrick spent 15 years with the seed industry, including five years in Switzerland at the joint secretariat of the International Seed Trade Federation and International Association of Plant Breeders (FIS/ASSINSEL), advancing to the position of Deputy Secretary General before his departure, and two years in Rome with the Seed and Plant Genetic Resources Service at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). He has also worked at GNIS (French parastatal seed organization) in Poitiers, France and at the Hassan II Agronomic and Veterinary Institute in Rabat, Morocco.

Sebastian Nduva

AFO programme lead, International Fertilizer Development Center (IFDC)

Sebastian is a fertilizer market specialist with a special focus on sub-Saharan African fertilizer market systems. He is currently the AfricaFertilizer.org (AFO) programme lead at the IFDC. The AFO initiative collects, processes and publishes fertilizer-sector statistics for key fertilizer markets in sub-Saharan Africa.

Niren Murugan

COO, ETG Africa

Mari Pennanen

Chief Business Development Officer, CBDO

Matchmaking potential port and transport corridor infrastructure projects for capital investment became part of Mari´s portfolio, when she joined couple of years ago APCH. The aim is to connect hinterland demand centres to major ports with world-class multi-modal logistics service providers, promoting sustainability and common user access. However, managing risks on investments are real challenges. Nevertheless, challenges in port and hinterland logistics have been Mari’s interest for two decades, so she is set for upcoming tasks as they come. Previously Mari worked more than 20 years in Tanzania, being part of the team, who built the first purpose build bulk fertilizer terminal in Sub Saharan Africa and set end-to-end terminal service from Dar es Salaam to Zambia using rail. Mari has MSc from University of Helsinki, Finland and several post-graduate studies in different European universities. She recently graduated from highly appreciated Leadership diploma programme with Aalto University at Uongozi institute.

Morgan Ahenda

Global Supply Chain Fertilizer Manager, One Acre Fund

Morgan Stephen Ahenda is the Global Supply Chain Fertilizer Manager at One Acre Fund, where he leads fertilizer sourcing, handling, and distribution across pan-African markets. His work focuses on strengthening supply chain efficiency, sustainability, and resilience to improve smallholder farmer access to quality inputs. With over a decade of experience in agricultural logistics and supply chain optimization, Morgan has been instrumental in developing systems that directly support more than five million smallholder farmers across Africa. He collaborates with fertilizer manufacturers, industry partners, and governments to enhance regional production capacity, ensure quality assurance, and promote responsible fertilizer use. Through his leadership, One Acre Fund continues to advance its mission of building sustainable and efficient supply chains that empower farmers, reduce environmental impact, and drive agricultural transformation across the continent.

Marie Claire Kalihangabo

Coordinator, Africa Fertilizer Financing Mechanism , African Development Bank

Marie Claire Kalihangabo is the Coordinator of the Africa Fertilizer Financing Mechanism, a special fund of the African Development Bank.
She has over 24 years of experience across public, development, and international sectors. She has led high-impact programs in agriculture financing, value chain development, private sector support, and policy reform in Africa.
Under her leadership, the Africa Fertilizer Financing Mechanism mobilized over $37 million and implemented innovative fertilizer financing projects across African countries.
Before leading the Africa Fertilizer Financing Mechanism, Marie Claire managed agricultural value chain projects across East and Southern Africa at the International Fertilizer Development Center. Her earlier career roles also include senior management positions in the Government of Rwanda, as well as the justice and academic sectors.
Marie Claire holds an MBA in project management from Maastricht School of Management. She speaks English and French.

Leon Kotze

Head of Agribusiness Africa Regions & Offshore, Standard Bank

Jesper Sorensen

CEO, DSM Corridor (Dar-Es Salaam)

Bede Heren

Editor, Africa Fertilizer, Argus

Bede Heren is responsible for Argus’ fertilizer and sulphur market coverage in Africa. He has worked in the fertilizer industry for more than a decade, both as a market reporter and as a trader.

Tim Cheyne

SVP - Global Head of Agriculture, Fertilizers, Ammonia, DEF, Argus

Tim is Senior Vice President for the fertilizer sector at Argus. Tim worked a process manager at an ammonia/urea plant in South Africa before moving to the UK to join KBR (then M.W. Kellogg) as a process engineer in the ammonia technology team. More recently Tim has covered fertilizer and industrial nitrogen as a market analyst.

Oliver Hatfield

VP Fertilizers, Argus

Oliver Hatfield is the VP of Fertilizers for Argus Media in London. Oliver joined Argus in October 2018 following its acquisition of Integer Research, where he was head of the fertilizer market research team and one of the company’s founders. He has more than 20 years of experience in business analysis and consulting.

Oliver is currently leading business development across Argus’ global nitrogen, phosphates and potash businesses, and driving the development of the company’s business in clean ammonia and specialty fertilizers. He is a regular speaker at industry events and is a graduate of economics and development economics from the University of Manchester in the UK.