The state governor, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike, expressed optimism that the State’s $12 million Cassava processing initiative would create jobs and enhance the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the country.
The Governor urged the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Federal Ministry of Agriculture to support the initiative to boost food security, create jobs and earn foreign exchange for the country.
Governor Wike said this Tuesday during a meeting with the board of the Rivers Cassava Processing Company Limited at the Government House, Port Harcourt, the state capital.
He explained that the State government ought to enjoy the support of CBN in its endeavour to boost food production and reduce importation of cassava products, particularly, processed starch into the country.
According to him, if the Rivers Cassava Processing Company is encouraged, the country’s dependence on imported cassava products would reduce drastically.
The governor regretted that CBN has failed to accede to Rivers State government request for N5 billion to boost the agriculture sector in the State, noting that if part of the N5 billion is invested in the Rivers Cassava processing initiative, it would create jobs and reduce unemployment rate.
The Special Assistant to the governor on Media, Kelvin Ebiri, said the governor suggested that the State government’s 70 percent equity in the company should be divested to encourage private sector participation and minimize government interference in the affairs of the company.
The Rivers State Commissioner of Agriculture, Dr. Fred Kpakor, explained that the multi-million Dollar cassava processing plant located at Afam, in Oyigbo Local Government Area, has the capacity to process 45,000 metric tons of cassava tuber to produce 12, 500 metric tons of high quality cassava flour.
Kpakor added that the plant will create over 3000 jobs, and that in the medium term, the company would add starch to its products as well as glucose in the future.
The Managing Director of the company, Reuben Giesen, said the facility would run on environment friendly power from the Rivers State Independent Power Plant in Afam, thus, setting the pace for industrialisation of the area.
Giesen said the State government and its partners, the Netherlands Embassy in Nigeria and Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), have keyed into the cassava production polity of the Federal Government.
The External Relations Manager of SPDC, Mr. Igo Wali, explained that Shell has already invested $3.6 million into the project as a mark of its commitment to boost food security and enhance job creation in the State.
