FirstWave Group and Xelect announce new strategic partnership

This week we’ve announced our new long-term partnership with FirstWave Group – Africa’s largest tilapia fish producer. The breeding program will develop high performance Nile tilapia for FirstWave’s operating companies, Yalelo Zambia and Yalelo Uganda.

“Success in leading innovation within African aquaculture requires the best ecosystem partners in addition to the best people. We are excited to partner with Xelect as they apply their global expertise and cutting-edge, data-driven tools to our local husbandry practices in Zambia and Uganda. This will allow us to breed tilapia pedigrees adapted to our local production environments, while avoiding the use of foreign genetics that present a risk to ecological balance,” said Tembwe, FirstWave Group co-CEO.

Xelect CEO, Prof Ian Johnston, added “We’re delighted to be working with FirstWave as they are clearly one of the biggest names in African aquaculture. We share their passion for creating a sustainable, local source of protein, and were immediately struck by their high standards of professionalism. We’re seeing more and more producers realise the value of harnessing natural genetic variation to create the best possible fish for local conditions and believe this will become a flagship example of best practice.”

The breeding program will lay the foundation for precision aquaculture farming at FirstWave as the Group continues to address the large fish deficit in the region. Locally developed pedigrees of tilapia will achieve superior performance in growth, quality, and health, supporting FirstWave’s mission of becoming a global leader in tilapia production efficiency.