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Showing posts with label Fertilizer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fertilizer. Show all posts

Friday, July 28, 2017

Osinbajo commissions $1.5bn fertilizer plant

The Acting President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo has commissioned $1.5 billion fertilizer plant in Nigeria city of Port Harcourt, Rivers State, reports NaijaAgroNet.

The fertilizer plant, NaijaAgroNet gathered was built by Indorama Eleme Fertilizer and Chemicals Limited at the cost of $1.5 billion, with production capacity of 4000 metric tons (MT) of nitrogenous fertilizers per day or 1.5 MT per annum.

NaijaAgroNet also reports that the acting President used the opportunity to remind all Nigerians that time has come for them to grow whatever they eat and produce whatever they consume.

“What Indorama is accomplishing today is very much in line with President Buhari’s vision for a country that produces what it consumes and grows what it eats. If you had to sum up our vision for the Nigerian economy in a few words, these would suffice. Grow what we eat, produce what we consume,” he said.

Prof Osinbajo commended Indorama for keying into the Presidential Fertilizer initiative which President Buhari launched last year to make fertilizers cheaper nationwide.

“At the end of last year, the President launched a Presidential Fertilizer Initiative, to ensure the availability of cheaper fertilizer to our farmers, to support what we’re doing in agriculture, in the production of rice and wheat and other staples.

“That Fertilizer Initiative, now well underway, has created significant economic opportunities for companies like Indorama Eleme Fertilizer & Chemicals Limited.

“I have been informed that Indorama will this year alone supply about 360,000 Metric Tons of Urea to Fertilizer blenders, which, in turn, will produce NPK fertilizer for the benefit of farmers across the country.


“This is the kind of economic progress we’re after, in which every unlocked opportunity proceeds to unlock several others, across multiple sectors of the economy.”

Uboshe Uboshe/GEE

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Thursday, June 15, 2017

Ghana to play host to fertilizer, agribiz conference

The city of Accra is gearing up to host the West Africa Fertilizer Agribusiness conference being organised by CRU Events and the African Fertilizer and Agribusiness Partnership (AFAP) on 10-12 July at the Movenpick Hotel Accra, reports NaijaAgroNet.

CRU Events CEO Nicola Coslett, informed NaijaAgroNet that this comes at a time when the Ghanaian fertilizer and agribusiness sector is undergoing an incredible boost from the country’s new leadership, making it the perfect moment to explore the region's potential using the conference’s main themes of partnership, investment and innovation.

“The three-day conference and networking event will attract over 250 attendees and feature specialist workshops, keynote presentations, interactive panel discussions, break-out sessions and a site visit to the Nestle Tema factory,” Coslett said.

Chief Agribusiness Officer at AFAP, Pierre Brunache, said the sessions will explore critical issues such as how the cost of fertilizer for West African farmers and how supply chains of agricultural inputs can be improved, how local government and international suppliers of fertilizer can work in partnership to build strong agribusiness.

“The conference will also look into how innovation in areas of finance or communication can be used in West African agribusiness, financing tools to enable fertilizer trade and investment in the agribusiness value chain and how to encourage youth participation and support women in agribusiness,” Brunache said.


Isaac Oyimah/GEE

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Friday, November 14, 2014

COMESA, AFAP in joint fertilizer programme




The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) and the African Fertilizer and Agribusiness Partnership (AFAP) have entered a joint fertilizer programme to enhance member-states increase in supply and use of fertilizer among smallholder farmers, reports NaijaAgroNet.
 The programme, NaijaAgroNet gathered is expected to catalyse agribusiness development for rural transformation.
Speaking at the launch of the Joint Fertilizer Harmonisation Programme, AFAP president, Jason Scarpone, told NaijaAgroNet in a press statement that the goal of the cooperation is to enhance regional trade in fertilizer and food staples, food security and incomes by strengthening small and medium enterprises that are essential for increasing competitiveness and integrating farmers into national, regional and international market to catalyse rural transformation.
NaijaAgroNet also gathered from the Vice President, Partnerships and Communication at AFAP, Professor Richard Mkandawire who endorsed the press statement that COMESA and AFAP have committed themselves to working together in establishing a fertilizer trade facility comprising a set of financial instruments through investments in medium enterprises working along the fertilizer value chain.
He noted that this partnership would strengthen the Eastern and Southern Africa Fertilizer Stakeholders’ Forum as an avenue for sustained dialogue between the public and private sector in catalysing the growth of fertilizer markets in the region.

Describing the deal as a landmark achievement that would spur the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) agricultural growth agenda for COMESA member states.

Also commenting, COMESA’s Secretary General, Sindiso Ngwenya said the partnership would boost private sector investment in fertilizer production, supply and use in the region is a major priority.

“The AFAP model in enhancing use and usage of fertiliser is a proven instrument for rural transformation” Ngwenya said.

+Naija AgroNet +Remmy Nweke (ITRealms) +CAADP - Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme  @COMESA
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Saturday, September 14, 2013

Nigeria targets 10% global fertilizer market by 2017-Alison Madueke


Anthony Nwakaegho/NaijaAgroNet

The development of new fertilizer plants in the country will position Nigeria as the nation targets control of 10 per cent of global fertilizer by 2017, to assist in the drive in all sector of the economy, especially the agricultural sector.

The Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs Diezani Alison-Madueke disclosed to NaijaAgroNet while speaking recently at a plenary session of the 19th Nigerian Economic Summit titled, “Building a World Class Petrochemical and Fertilizer Industry in Nigeria.”

 Alison-Madueke said that the need to get the gas sector to drive growth in all sectors of the economy mostly in agricultural sector necessitated the excision of some key areas of the Gas Master Plan from the Petroleum Industry Bill, (PIB) for accelerated implementation under the Gas Revolution Agenda.

The Minister listed some of the proposed fertilizer plants to include the Dangote Petrochemical and Fertilizer Plant to be built at Olokola, Indorama Fertilizer Plant at Eleme, Brass Fertilizer Company at Brass, Nagarjuna Fertilizer Plant at Ogidigben, and another plant by the International Fertilizer Association.
 
Speaking further on the gas policy framework, Alison-Madueke explained that the thrust of the two-pronged policy of gas-to-power and gas-to-industries is to drive linkages between the power and industrial sectors with the agricultural sector serving as a linchpin in the industrial sector on account of its enormous job creation potential and multiplier effect in the economy.

The Managing Director of Gas Aggregator Company of Nigeria, Mr. Kunle Allen, stated that apart from Notore which is already into fertilizer production, six new companies have approached the Gas Aggregator Company to firm up gas supply arrangements for their fertilizer plants and that talks are at an advanced stage with the companies.

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*pix: Alison-Madueke Minister of Petroleum Resources

Thursday, May 31, 2012

Jonathan bans foreign foods at govt functions


President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan
President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan has banned continental dishes at all government official functions in order to promote local foods.
He said, the move by the federal government to ban foreign foods at state functions is to encourage the consumption of what is produced locally.
“We must grow local, buy local and eat local,” he declared.
The prescribed local foods by the president, NaijaAgroNet learnt includes local rice and cassava bread, to make use of the large population to create market for locally produced foods.
In his democracy day presidential address, Jonathan noted that the state house has been feeding on cassava bread and local rice, hence keeping his promise.
“Our agricultural transformation agenda is directed at promoting local production,” he said.
President Jonathan also asserted that agriculture accounts for about 40 per cent of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), while creating job opportunities for over 70 per cent of the total population.
He expressed the federal government’s move in the transforming the agriculture sector as Nigeria has a huge comparative advantage and increase in productivity, saying it would help reduce the rate of rural poverty as well as reviving the rural economy.
“Our goal is to add 20 million metric tonnes of food to our domestic food supply by 2015 and create 3.5 million jobs,” he said, stressing, “We are aggressively pursuing an agricultural transformation agenda.”
President Jonathan further affirmed that agriculture is no longer a development programme, hence the need to treat it as a business, one that could generate wealth and create jobs for millions of our youths.
Giving the reason behind the federal government stopping the distribution of fertilizers, the president said only 11 per cent of farmers benefit from the fertilizers that was earlier distributed. “The old system encouraged rent seekers to collude and deprive farmers of access to fertilizers, while some of the fertilizers ended up with political farmers and in neighbouring countries,” he said.
This, NaijaAgroNet learnt lead to the total deregulation of the procurement and commercialization of fertilizers and seeds by the federal government to the private sector in order to put an end to corruption culture in fertilizer procurement exercise.
Yinka Awosanya/LS
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Friday, December 23, 2011

Govt, Nigerian banks to share 70% loans on seeds, fertilizer


The Federal Government and Nigerian banks have concluded plans to share 70 per cent loans on seeds and fertilizer.

President Goodluck Jonathan made this disclosure during his latest joint address to the National Assembly in Abuja, the federal capital territory on the 2012 budget.

He said that in order to unleash the potential of this sector, the Federal Ministry of Finance has put in place a mechanism to share risks with the banking sector by guaranteeing 70 per cent of the principal of all loans made for supply of seeds and fertilizer by the private sector.

NaijaAgroNet gathered that Jonathan noted that to get the inputs to farmers at an affordable cost, the Federal Government is subsidizing the interest rate on these loans to bring it down from 15 per cent to 7 per cent per annum.

The Minister of Agriculture and the Central Bank, President Jonathan said, would be collaborating to extend these services for credit availability for the medium term.

“We are introducing further fiscal policy measures to support the development of the agricultural sector,” he declared.

Pointing out that in this respect, the duty on machinery and certain specified equipment for the sector will, effective January 31st 2012, attract zero duty.

“We will further look at supportive fiscal policies for the rice and wheat sectors to stimulate domestic production,” he said.

Remmy Nweke
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