Ravalomanana solicited a loan from the "Agence Française de Développement" to further expand his business, but this request was denied, souring his view of France. His subsequent request to the World Bank for 1.5 million US dollars was approved, and in 1982 he founded the Tiko company. The representative of the World Bank to Madagascar at the time, José Broffman, secured the loan with exceptionally favorable reimbursement conditions that enabled Ravalomanana to sell his products at a lower cost than other small dairy producers, which gradually put his most significant competitors out of business. Broffman later left his post at the World Bank to become a principal investor in the company, joined by private investors from South Africa, Germany and the United States. As Tiko continued to grow, the entrepreneur began incorporating imported ingredients such as powdered milk from South Africa (constituting 80 per cent of the composition of Tiko dairy products) and surplus butter from Europe, further improving the profitability of his business and enabling additional diversification. Tiko Group first concentrated exclusively on the production of dairy products before expanding into fruit juices, ice cream, cooking oil and carbonated beverages. The Tiko slogan printed on many of the group's products, "Vita Malagasy" ("Made in Madagascar"), reflected Ravalomanana's national pride and his vision that Madagascar should develop a larger capacity to produce quality goods for distribution for national and international markets.