Africa’s richest man wants to build the continent’s largest fertiliser plant and help put a dent in food shortages.
The project, by Nigerian Aliko Dangote, is set to start production in three years, and may also serve as an example of how Nigeria can put its often-squandered natural resources to good use. The country is the continent’s largest oil producer with massive untapped gas reserves.
Of course, the Nigeria-based Dangote Group, headed by Mr Dangote, once referred by Forbes as Africa’s richest man, stands to rake in yet another small fortune along the way.
The company’s fertiliser factory will be located in the south of Nigeria in Edo state and will be built by Italian firm Saipem. The cost has not been made public.
It would employ some 7,000 people, directly and indirectly, according to Dangote, and allow Nigeria to stop importing fertiliser and use its wealth of natural gas reserves as part of the manufacturing process.
The plant would also produce enough to export, the company says, while describing it as Africa’s biggest.
“There is no reason why Nigeria should be importing fertiliser,” Mr Dangote said in a statement.
“When our plant is completed, the country will become self-sufficient in fertiliser production and even have some for export to other African countries.”
The Nigerian programme officer for the International Fund for Agricultural Development, a UN agency, welcomed the plan.
“Whatever happens here will have a multiplier effect on the rest of Africa,” said Mr Benjamin Odoemena. “Once there is food sufficiency in Nigeria, other African countries, including the famine-ravaged Horn of Africa, will benefit,” he said. (AFP)
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