The President, Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, on Monday disclosed that the company would invest US$450m in agriculture development in Niger State, Nigeria over the next three years. Dangote, who made this known during the 2017 Niger State Investment Summit in Minna, said the funds would be used in establishing a large scale rice processing mill to process over 200,000 metric tonnes of paddy rice. He said that a state-of-the-art fully integrated sugar refining industry would also be established.

“The Dangote Group is committed to invest around US$450m over the three next years to establish a large scale rice processing mill for out growers. Our company is also establishing a state of the art fully integrated sugar industry involving the development of over 30,000 hectares of sugar cane plantation and the production of about 500, 000 metric tonnes of refined sugar. We are very excited about these investments and look forward to kick-starting this mutually beneficial partnership with the government and good people of Niger State,” he said.

Dangote, who was represented by Alhaji Mansur Ahmed, noted that the company also planned to invest over US$1bn in agricultural production and processing of selected commodities like sugar, rice and tomatoes across the country.
According to him, Niger has become the destination of choice for investment in the agricultural sector given its rich and vast arable land. He said that the company was poised to leverage on that toward a virile agriculture based economy.

Dangote said that the group would also continue to engage governments at the federal and state levels where there was great potential to explore investment opportunities. The Commissioner for Investment, Commerce and Industry, Mrs Ramatu Yardua said the aim of the summit was to market the state as an investment destination in agriculture considering its enormous potential which was largely untapped.

Yardua said that agriculture was key to moving the country out of recession, adding that the state was committed to creating a conducive and enabling environment for would be investors.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)

Cross River Government says it is constructing a N7 billion cocoa processing plant in Ikom, Ikom Local Government Area of the state to boost cocoa production. The Governor of the state, Prof. Ben Ayade, said this in Abuja on Monday in an interview with journalists in Abuja, on the sidelines of the First International Cocoa Summit organised by the Federal Ministry of Trade and Investment.

The governor, represented by Mr Oscar Ofuka, his Special Adviser on Cocoa Development, said the move was also to add value to cocao, being massively produced in the state. Ayade said the state government had planted over 5,000 hectares of cocoa in its cocoa estate, adding that it was formulating a policy that would mandate 70 per cent local consumption of cocoa in the state.

He said that the government was also supporting local cocoa farmers in the state to boost production, to enable them to overtake other states in cocoa production.
‘’We are already trying to make it a policy that, school children in the state will be fed with cocoa related products. We have achieved so much on cocoa production. ‘’Before now, cocoa was relegated to the background. We have been able to raise nursery to expand our cocoa farms. We have government cocoa estate with about 5,000 hectares planted already. The state government has made it as a policy to open new cocoa farms across the state. We have been exporting cocoa all this while but now, government has come up with a policy that will encourage local consumption of about 70 per cent of the cocoa produced in the state. This is to ensure that jobs are created. Cross River is the second largest producer of cocoa in the country with Ondo State as the largest producer but we want to overtake it,’’ Ayade said.

The governor, however, called on private investors and other relevant stakeholders to invest in cocoa production in the state, promising them of an enabling environment for their investments.

Source: The News Nigeria

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on Tuesday in Auchi, Edo State inaugurated the Edo Fertilizer Plant and Chemical Company Limited. The plant, said to have the capacity to produce about 60,000 metric tonnes of fertilizer in a year, was revived through a public, private venture about 14 years after it was abandoned.

According to a statement from Government House, Benin City, Edo State, Mr. Osinbajo was accompanied to the ceremony in the state by the Ministers of Agriculture and Rural Development, Audu Ogbeh, and Industry, Trade and Investment, Okechukwu Enelamah. He commended the state governor, Godwin Obaseki, for creating the enabling business environment for the revitalisation of the fertiliser plant.

Mr. Osinbajo expressed delight that 500 direct jobs had been created by the investment, stressing that much more employment opportunities would result from ancillary economic activities to be generated by the plant. “The President Buhari administration is committed to making it easy for investors to do business in the country,” he said. “We want to achieve this through the promotion of transparency and efficiency. We want every state to be involved in this drive and create the enabling environment for business to thrive in their domain.”

Mr. Osinbajo said fertiliser blending plants were being revitalised across Nigeria as a result of the presidential initiative to diversify the economy from crude oil, boost farming activities as well as develop the agriculture value chain. He said the government was trying to make fertiliser, which is a major farm input, easily available and accessible to farmers as improved access to inputs would significantly enhance agricultural activities in the country.

In his remarks, Governor Obaseki said the ceremony was a milestone, as the facility was never operated for a day after it was launched by the state government about 14 years ago. “The aim of revitalising this plant is to make the state self-sufficient in food production and enable farmers get fertilizer at affordable prices. We in Edo State are determined to make food available in the country,” he said. The governor said the facility would go a long way in providing fertiliser for farmers in neighbouring states such as Kogi, Delta, Ondo and Anambra, as it was the only blending plant in the region.

Mr. Obaseki commended the Presidential Fertiliser Initiative as well as the management of WACOT, a private firm, for partnering with the state government in revamping the plant. “This achievement is an open call to other investors to bring in new technology, create more jobs and expand our economic opportunities,” he said. The governor called on the Otaru of Auchi, the community where the plant is located, to ensure the protection of the facility against vandalism as it creates a large range of opportunities for businesses in the community and the state.

Also speaking, the Group Managing Director of WACOT, Rahul Savara, commended Mr. Osinbajo for commissioning the plant and Mr. Obaseki for fostering the partnership between the state and his company. He said the presidential Fertiliser initiative has made local production feasible and sustainable in the country, adding that the company would be made up of 95 per cent indigenous workers.

Speaking of the numerous benefits of having a fertiliser blending plant in the state, the state Deputy Governor, Philip Shaibu, said: “Many jobs will be created, it will boost business activities, farmers will no longer go through undue hardship before they get fertiliser to buy and productivity will increase. We are keying into the federal government policy to make fertilizer affordable and available in the country.”

In his remark, the Otaru of Auchi, Aliru Momoh, said the commissioning of the plant demonstrates Mr. Obaseki’s zeal to improve the economy as well as industrialise the state.“The governor brought in people to revamp this plant and told us at the palace that within three months, it will become functional, we thought it was a joke. But thanks to Allah that we are here to witness the commissioning of the plant,” the traditional ruler said.

Source: Premium Time

Vice President of Nigeria, Yemi Osinbajo commissioned three million metric tonnes per annum BUA’s Obu Cement factory located at Okpella in Etsako East Local Government of Edo State. Osinbajo who also performed the ground breaking ceremony of the second line of three million tons plant per annum, assured that the federal government of Nigeria is removing all human inhibitions to encourage investors.

“This project is a big boost to the Nigerian economy and it will provide employment opportunity for the both skilled and unskilled youths of this state and the country at large,’’ he said.
He said the plant’s capacity will consolidate Nigeria’s self-sufficiency in cement and it will be a big boost to the nation’s export capacity.

Osinbajo assured that the federal government would endeavour to make policies that would remove bottle necks but “will identify inhibitions and eliminate them so as to encourage private sector.
In his speech, Governor Godwin Obaseki, said the commissioning of the plant marked the industrialisation of Edo State. The governor added that the vision and mission of the company were in line with the state government’s economic reform agenda, assuring that the state government is ready to make Edo an industrial haven with friendly tax policies.’’

Earlier, the Chairman BUA Group of Company, Alhaji Abdulsamad Rabiu, said the choice to site the plant at Okpella, in Estako East Local Government area of the state, was strategic, saying that “this community has the best limestone in the whole of the country.’’ According to him, the completion of the second line in the first quarter of 2018, will take production capacity to 6million metric tonnes per annum.

Source: DailyTrust