Presco Launches Training for Africa’s Next-Gen Agribusiness Leaders

News in Brief:

-Presco has started the SIAT Academy Graduate Trainee Programme to train young graduates in agribusiness, combining classroom, mentoring, and on-the-job rotations, with potential management roles after one year.

-The initiative covers operations in Nigeria and Ghana, and aims to shift perceptions of agriculture among graduates by showing it is modern, technical, and promising for career growth.

In July 2025, 26 graduates started a year-long programme at Presco, one of Nigeria’s major palm oil producers. The SIAT Academy Graduate Trainee Programme offers what is rare in Nigeria's formal education: a graduate training that includes classroom sessions, mentoring, and rotational work across Presco and sister companies in the SIAT Group.

Graduates who meet performance benchmarks will be elevated into assistant management positions, paving the way for career growth within Presco and across the SIAT Group.

Covering Multiple Countries and Disciplines

The programme is not limited to Nigeria. It extends to Presco’s operations in Ghana, signalling a Pan-African ambition to build leadership in agribusiness.

Disciplines eligible include:

• -Agriculture
• -Agronomy
• -Agricultural engineering
• -Environmental/social sciences
• -Finance
• -Marketing
• -Supply chain and logistics
• -Business administration
• -IT & data analysis, among others.

Why This Matters

Agriculture studies in Nigeria (and many parts of Africa) are often seen as a fallback rather than a first choice. Formal graduate programmes are common in banking, telecom, or oil & gas, but rare in agribusiness. Presco’s academy aims to challenge that perception by treating agriculture as a complex, technical, integrated industry.

Early recruits remark on the scale: plantations, refineries, packaging, biogas facilities, sustainability officers, and field engineers all working together. For them, agriculture is looking more like modern industry than subsistence farming.

Promise Ahead

While training 26 people is a promising start, the programme alone will not transform an industry that employs millions. There are challenges:

• -Retaining trainees who may leave for better offers elsewhere.
• -Scaling the programme sufficiently to have a systemic impact.
• -Ensuring that what is taught matches local realities (remote areas, logistics, infrastructure).

Still, by embedding the academy into Presco’s operations, the organisers increase its chance of being more than just a short-term project.

Implications for Youth, Farmers & Policy

For young graduates, this offers career paths in agribusiness, demonstrating that agriculture can be prestigious, technical, and rewarding.

For farmers and rural communities, more trained mid-level managers and technical experts could improve yields, processing, sustainability, and community relations.

For policymakers and universities, the programme signals the importance of collaboration between academia, the private sector, and industry to produce skills needed in modern agriculture.