Schaffer Global Group

SCHAFFER GLOBAL GROUP

Schaffer Global Group is a U.S.-based, privately owned, professional services firm providing international and domestic project development, implementation and management services to the sugar, rice, aquaculture, agro-industrial, petrochemical, energy and infrastructure sectors.

CURRENT NEWS

Private Sector Interest Grows in African Farming
Francis Schaffer Presented Honorary Lifetime Membership in ASAC
Mario de Matos Recognized by Portuguese President
Second Annual Chris Cup
U.S. Sugar Corporation
Schaffer Global Group Participates in the Mali President's Council for Investment
Arno Jansen and Malcolm Wade Receive the George & Eleanore Meade Award
Susan G. Komen "Race for the Cure"
Wings of Freedom Tour

Private Sector Interest Grows in African Farming

by Caroline Henshaw

An excerpt from an article that appeared in the Wall Street Journal on October 29, 2010 where Dr. Mima Nedelcovych, a Schaffer and Associate partner, discusses the importance of public private partnerships in the wave of new private-sector investment in agriculture in Africa.

Mario de Matos hopes the 20,000-hectare Markala

Sugar Project will strengthen Mali's domestic markets.

"Mima Nedelcovych, a former US Executive Director of the African Development Bank and board director of the Partnership to Cut Hunger and Poverty in Africa, said if governments want to encourage a sea-change in investment, they need to foster a productive environment themselves. "The agro-industrial side can always be financed because it can handle shorter-term loans," he said. "But developing infrastructure and putting in irrigation requires longer term soft money."

As a partner in U.S.-based professional services firm Schaffer Global Group, Dr. Nedelcovych has developed one of the largest public-private agricultural investments in Africa, the Markala Sugar Project-a 20,000 hectare public-private partnership between Mali's government and Africa's largest sugar producer Illovo, a subsidiary of Associated British Foods.

Located on the Niger River, the project was jointly funded by Illovo Sugar, Schaffer, Malian private investors and the government and will be managed and operated by Illovo. The mill and sugar estates will produce around 200,000 tons of sugar a year, create 8,000 permanent jobs, thousands of temporary seasonal jobs and will produce around 10% of oil-dependent Mali's energy needs.

Key to the success of the project is the strength of Mali's sugar market, which consumes around 160,000 tons of sugar a year, leaving 40,000 tons to be exported into the West African regional market, said Dr. Nedelcovych. He argues that for African agriculture to prosper, local markets need to be strengthened to provide a home-grown impetus for development and support more profitable processing industries."

For more information on the article.

Article printed in Wall Street Journal, Business Section on October 29, 2010.

Francis Schaffer Presented Honorary Lifetime Membership in ASAC

Mr. Schaffer was presented with an "Honorary Lifetime Membership" in American Society of Agricultural Consultants at the 2008 Annual Meeting in Salt Lake City, October 25-28, 2008. Mr. Schaffer has been a long time member of ASAC joining in 1983.

For more information on the award.

Mario de Matos Recognized by Portuguese President

Mr. Matos was recognized by the President of Portugal during the Portuguese Republic Day on July 10, 2008 for his outstanding work in the field of sugarcane development in Africa.

During the 4-day "Day of Portugal" Celebration (June 7th to 10th, 2009), Mr. Matos was presented with the Diaspora award by Portuguese President Cavaco Silva. Mr. Matos attended the awards presentation as well as the traditional military parade and luncheon with President Silva

For more information on the acknowledgement.

To see a photo gallery of the event.

Second Annual Chris Cup

The Second Annual “Chris Cup”, in honor of Chris Nedelcovych, was played in Sansanding, Mali August 19-September 22, 2008. Eight teams entered the round-robin contest in a rural region of this West African country where electricity is still not available and livelihoods consist of primarily subsistence farming and herding. The main joy for young men is found in playing soccer on a dirt field, many of them lucky to have sandals to play in so as not to play barefoot. The “Chris Cup” is a major annual event coinciding with the festivities of Independence Day.

For more information on the Annual Chris Cup and the Chris Nedelcovych Soccer Foundation.

U.S. Sugar Corporation

Schaffer completes the modernization and upgrade of U.S. Sugar Corporation's Clewiston Sugar Factory. The Breakthrough Project expanded the factory to a grinding capacity of 38,000 tons sugar cane per day. Schaffer established an "Owner's Team" to perform the

engineering design and to supervise the engineering, construction and procurement for the project.

START DATE: April 2005

STOP DATE: October 2007

PROJECT PRESS RELEASES:

U.S. Sugar Begins 2007-2008 Sugarcane Harvest

U.S. Sugar Using New Automated Manufacturing Plant

U.S. Sugar Starts Cane Harvest, Relies on Bigger Mill

Sweet GIG - PMI Magazine

Schaffer Global Group Participates in the Mali President's Council for Investment

Dr. Mima Nedelcovych, Managing Director of SGG and Chairman of the Societe Sucriere de Markala (SoSuMar), and Harouna Niang, General Manager of SoSuMar, were invited to join the Council and lead the discussions centered on Creative Financing Solutions arising from Public Private Partnerships (PPP). The day long 5th Session of the Council was chaired by the President of Mali, His Excellency Amadou Toumani Toure, and held at the Executive Offices on 18 February 2008.

The small group, included 6 key Ministers, and several others invited companies and institutions, had the opportunity to discuss in depth the pros and cons of PPP mechanisms for enabling the creation and financing of large scale agro-industrial projects, using the Markala Sugar Project as a cutting edge example.

The conclusion was that large and complex projects such as SoSuMar, with all the myriad benefits created by and spinning off from it, could not be achieved without a close working relationship between the Government and the mandated developer (SGG) and the core private investor (Illovo Sugar). This type of cooperation and structuring should be sought for other similar large scale projects of high importance to President Toure's Program for Economic and Social Development.

Arno Jansen and Malcolm Wade Receive the George & Eleanore Meade Award

Arno Jansen and Malcolm Wade received the George & Eleanore Meade Award for their presentation titled "Fast Tract Implementation of One of the World's Largest and Most Complex Sugar Factory Projects." The paper was judged the best paper presented at the 2007 Annual Technical Meeting of Sugar Industry Technologists in Baltimore, Maryland. The Meade Award Plaque will be presented to Mr. Jansen and Mr. Wade during the annual Awards Banquet at the next annual meeting in Leipzig, Germany on May 27, 2008.

Congratulations for a job well done!

Susan G. Komen "Race for the Cure"

On Saturday, March 8, 2008, 17 members of SAIL, families and friends participated for the second year in a row in the "Race for the Cure" in support of a former colleague and friend. More than 8,000 participants came out to the 2008 Komen Baton Rouge Race for the Cure. This event, which established a new record, is the largest 5K race in the Capital Region. The Race raised $250,000 which will be used for breast cancer education, screening and treatment programs in our region, with an emphasis on underserved groups and areas.

Thanks to all who participated.

Wings of Freedom Tour

On Friday, March 9, 2007, Mr. Francis C. Schaffer, our company's founder and a Colonel and lead navigator during his U.S. Air Force service, joined the "Wings of Freedom Tour" on its flight from Hattiesburg, Mississippi to Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

The Collings Foundation's "Wings of Freedom Tour" is a 130 city tour of four vintage World War II bombers. Col. Schaffer was active in both World War II and the Korean War. On Friday, Col. Schaffer arrived at the Baton Rouge Metro Airport on a B-24 Liberator "Witchcraft" WWII heavy bomber, similar to the aircraft he navigated during WWII. In addition to the B-24 Liberator, a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress WWII heavy bomber, a North American B-25 Mitchell WWII medium bomber and an AT-6 Trainer were seen circling the Baton Rouge Metro Airport.

Col. Schaffer (below) was met at the airport by his family, friends, and employees from the Baton Rouge office. It was a very special time for the Schaffer family.