21 SEP 2011
Nigeria’s Dangote Group has announced plans to build the largest fertiliser plant in Africa in an effort to aid the country’s agriculture industry and to cut down on food shortages.
The plant, which is scheduled to come into operation by 2014, will be located in Edo state in the south of Nigeria and will be constructed by Italian firm Saipem.
Aliko Dangote, who heads up the company and is said to be Africa’s richest man, said Nigeria will no longer have to import fertiliser and may eventually be able to export its own products across the continent.
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“There is no reason why Nigeria should be importing fertiliser,” he said. “I am happy that with this agreement, by the time our plant is completed and commissioned, the country will become self-sufficient in fertiliser production and even have the capacity to export the products to other African countries.”
Benjamin Odoemena, the Nigerian programme officer for the International Fund for Agricultural Development, was optimistic about the move. “Whatever happens here will have a multiplier effect on the rest of Africa,” he said. “Once there is food sufficiency in Nigeria, other African countries, including the famine-ravaged Horn of Africa, will benefit.”
The Dangote Group is the largest industrial conglomerate in West Africa and has been successful in cement, flour and sugar production. The fertiliser plant is set to employ around 7,000 people.
At present, the Nigerian government earns two-thirds of its revenue and over 90 percent of export earnings from the oil industry. However, 70 percent of the country’s workforce is employed in the agriculture industry.
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