How Nigeria Planted the Seed for Pulkit Jain’s Billion-Dollar Business
Pulkit, the company’s founder, saw an opportunity in Nigeria’s rice industry.
“Nigeria has the largest population in Africa, and it’s a population that eats rice,” he says. At the time, local rice production was minimal, and only a few companies were involved. Recognising the government’s push to develop the sector, Pulkit shifted PJS’s strategy: instead of just supplying rice to others, the company began selling its own branded rice in Nigeria marking the start of controlling the value chain.
When Nigeria banned rice imports in 2015, it posed a major challenge. But instead of pulling out, Pulkit responded by sending a team from India to explore rice cultivation within the country. By 2017, PJS was growing, processing, and packaging rice and raw cashew nuts locally in Nigeria and Ghana. This integration allowed PJS to maintain a stable presence while expanding operations.
To strengthen its procurement chain, PJS established collection centres in Africa for cashews and later diversified into petroleum trading. However, logistics issues during COVID-19 led to the creation of the company’s own shipping arm. Today, shipping contributes 15% to the overall business, and Nigeria remains central to PJS’s agricultural and logistics operations.
Pulkit sees diversification and local value chain control as key to sustainable growth. “We can’t just trade a product we must grow it, manufacture it, and move it ourselves,” he says.
For PJS, Nigeria was the launchpad for this integrated approach and remains a cornerstone of its long-term strategy.