August 2, 2014 by Okechukwu Nnodim
Alhaji Aliko Dangote
Dangote
Industries Limited on Friday announced a $1bn (N165bn) investment for
commercial rice farming and modern integrated rice mills to be run by
the firm in Nigeria.
The President and Chairman, Dangote
Group, Mr. Aliko Dangote, announced his firm’s investment plan at the
headquarters of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural
Development in Abuja.
Dangote, who led a delegation from his
firm to the ministry, later proceeded to the Presidential Villa for the
signing of a Memorandum of Understanding with the Federal Government.
He told ministry officials and
journalists that the decision to invest in rice production was aimed at
developing Nigeria’s economy through agriculture.
He said the investment would further
boosts the Federal Government’s drive to attain food sufficiency in
Nigeria, adding that in the next four years Nigeria would become an
exporter of rice.
Dangote said once his rice industry
starts production, the price of locally produced rice “will be
definitely cheaper than the imported ones and this will create room for a
lot of investments in the sector.”
He added, “With rice as a major staple,
we have placed total sufficiency in rice production as a major priority
for our country and key value chain for our economy.
“Today’s signing ceremony marks a
revolutionary tipping point by the Dangote Group to make Nigeria a net
exporter of rice within the next few years as well as boosting inclusive
wealth creation and employment generation.”
Dangote said his firm had acquired
farmlands in Edo, Jigawa, Kebbi, Kwara and Niger states totalling
150,000 hectares to be used for the commercial production of rice paddy.
He noted that his industry would
establish two state of the art large scale rice mills each with a
capacity to mill 120,000 metric tons of rice per day, bringing total
capacity to 240.000MT, with plans to double the figure in two years.
“With this installed capacity, the project will become the largest integrated rice mill in Africa,” Dangote said.
In his remarks, the Minister of
Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, stated that the
Dangote farms and mills were expected to significantly boost
small-holder rice production in the regions through a nucleus and
out-grower farming model.
This, he said, would directly transform
livelihoods in rural Nigeria as the sites selected were rice-growing
communities that will be supported by Dangote’s provision of
agro-inputs, training and marketing linkages to improve
community-farming.
He said employment opportunities for at least 8,000 Nigerians would be created by the massive investment.
Akinwumi said, “This investment by
Dangote Industries is transformational for Nigeria and the rest of
Africa. Nigeria has no business importing rice. Our goal is to become
self-sufficient in rice and become a global powerhouse in food and
agriculture markets.
“Through this billion dollar commitment,
Aliko Dangote, Africa’s leading businessman, has clearly attested to
the policies and approach that the Federal Government has undertaken to
transform the nation’s agricultural sector.”
The minister assured the delegation that
the Federal Government would stop the smuggling of foreign rice into
Nigeria from neighbouring countries.
According to him, his ministry would ensure that no individual sabotaged the drive to make Nigeria an exporter of rice.
“We will end smuggling because we cannot
mortgage our future and I want to assure you that government is looking
at this issue critically,” Adesina said.
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