Moroccan tycoon Rita Zniber's Diana Holding in talks with Kazakhstan over grain and farm trade

Diana Holding, one of Morocco's largest agro-industrial groups, is in early talks with Kazakhstan over a trade and investment partnership that could see the Central Asian country channel grain, flour and cooking oil into the Moroccan market through the company's distribution network.

The discussions came at a meeting in Rabat between Rita Maria Zniber, the group's president and chief executive, and Saulekul Sailaukyzy, Kazakhstan's ambassador to Morocco, according to a readout from the Kazakh foreign ministry. The two sides focused on specific areas of cooperation in the agro-industrial sector.

Kazakhstan is one of the world's largest wheat exporters, and the ambassador said it wanted to sell flour, vegetable oils and grain crops to Morocco, with Diana Holding serving as a potential distribution partner. She raised the prospect of using the company to move Kazakh grain and processed grain products not only within Morocco but across the wider region.

The Kazakh side also pitched investment. Sailaukyzy presented opportunities in Kazakhstan's agro-industrial complex and invited Diana Holding to weigh joint projects, including the processing of agricultural products and the building of production facilities in the country. Both sides said they wanted to keep talking and to work out practical steps.

Those steps could include business delegation visits and dedicated meetings between Kazakh exporters and the company, the ministry said. No agreement was announced, and the talks appear to be at an exploratory stage.

The meeting fits a broader push by Kazakhstan to deepen commercial ties with Morocco and, through it, with Africa. The ambassador said bilateral trade had grown 68 percent since the Kazakh embassy opened and topped $460 million by the end of last year, and cast Morocco as a gateway to markets across the continent. Kazakhstan, which holds the rotating chairmanship of the Eurasian Economic Union this year, has been pressing to expand trade with the Global South and Africa.

The approach also underscores Diana Holding's weight in Moroccan business. The group runs more than 30 subsidiaries, employs over 7,000 people and manages more than 8,300 hectares of land. By the Kazakh account, it ranks second among the country's agricultural companies and seventh among its largest private groups.

The company spans several industries. Its business units cover agriculture, olive growing and olive oil, beverages, poultry, sea products, plastics packaging, distribution and retail. It is best known abroad for its wines, produced through its Domaines Zniber operations, which make it Morocco's largest wine producer and one of the biggest wine businesses on the continent.

Zniber has led the group since 2014. She joined the family business in 1988 and rose to chairman and chief executive, building on the company her late husband, Brahim Zniber, founded in 1956 on an estate in the foothills of the Middle Atlas. The group carries the name of the couple's daughter, who sits on its board.

She has become one of the most prominent businesswomen in the Arab and African world. She has appeared repeatedly on Forbes Middle East's ranking of the most powerful businesswomen, won the AllAfrica Female Leadership Award, holds France's Legion of Honour and runs a charity she founded, the Rita Zniber Foundation.

Diana Holding has courted foreign partners before and reshaped its portfolio to concentrate on food and farming. In 2022 it signed a $12.1 million deal with Morocco's industry ministry to expand juice processing, and the same year it sold its northern Moroccan Coca-Cola bottler, Atlas Bottling Company, to Equatorial Coca-Cola Bottling Company. It has also worked with the Mohammed VI Polytechnic University on water-efficient, precision agriculture.

Water is a pressing concern for the group. Morocco has endured years of drought that have battered its farm sector, squeezing citrus and other crops and pushing agribusinesses to invest in efficiency and to secure reliable supplies. A steady flow of Kazakh grain and oils could help cushion a food system exposed to climate shocks and volatile global prices.

The timing suits Kazakhstan as well. The country has been widening its trade beyond its immediate neighbourhood, hunting for buyers of its wheat and processed foods in Africa and the Middle East, and a tie-up with an established Moroccan distributor would hand its exporters a foothold in one of North Africa's larger consumer markets.

Whether the talks turn into firm contracts remains to be seen, and the ministry's account reflects only the Kazakh side of the conversation. What is clear is that a leading Moroccan family group and a major grain exporter have opened a dialogue that could link the Central Asian steppe to North African tables.