Fertilizer Plant |
The Executive
Secretary of the Fertilizer Producers and Suppliers Association
(FEPSAN), Alhaji Ahmed Rabiu Kwa, says Nigeria will begin to export
fertiliser in the next five years going by the programme of the
Presidential Fertilizer Initiative (PFI).
Kwa in an interview
in Abuja said the PFI of the Muhammadu Buhari-led administration had
seen the revival of 11 fertiliser blending plants in the country and was
now working towards increasing production for export.
"Five additional
blending plants will begin production by the end of this August. This
will complement the existing 11 plants in the country.
"Once we have a
proactive government like we have now, in the next five years things
will turn around in the fertiliser industry. It will be sufficient and
we will be able to supply our neighbouring countries in West Africa.
"At the moment,
Dangote has gone into agreement to produce about 2.8 million tonnes of
fertiliser by 2019; that is a big injection into the industry.
"The future is very
bright for the fertiliser industry because at the moment in Nigeria, we
are using 10 kilogrammes of fertiliser per hectare as against world
average of 100 kilogrammes," Kwa said.
The FEPSAN
executive secretary said the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) through the
National Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA), provided the necessary
funds needed for the revival of the industry.
He noted that
fertiliser supply had significantly increased in the country in the last
six months compared to what was obtainable in previous years.
Kwa noted that the
current PFI had saved Nigeria over 200 million in foreign exchange and
had also brought down the price of the product from N10,000 to N5,500
for a 50kg bag.
"This is an
excellent and wonderful achievement; the PFI is one of the best thing
that happened to Agriculture in Nigeria over the years.
"So many programmes have been put in place to supply fertilisers to farmers over the years but none succeeded like this one.
"This present
initiative ensured that fertiliser is produced locally and not imported;
only few raw materials are imported, while others are sourced locally
with over 250,000 direct employments.
"Activities have
been generated in the value chain in terms of transportation, labour
engagements at the plants including loading and offloading.
"Distributors have
been registered to distribute the product; all these activities have
brought change in agriculture and particularly the fertiliser industry.
"Availability and supply of fertiliser has greatly improved since this programme started in February this year," he said.
Kwa urged the
Minister of Transport Rotimi Amaechi and his counterpart in the Ministry
of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, to ensure that the
country had good transport and road network to easy the challenges faced
by distributors and drivers when transporting fertiliser.
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