Fertiliser production to hit 3.2MMT as OCP unveils blending plant

L-R: Akintunde Akinwande, head of business development and digital projects; Caleb Usoh, deputy managing director, program incubation (W/A); Taiwo Akinwande, head of administration, and , Oluwatoba Asana, country manager all of OCP Africa Nigeria at the Centre of Excellence, Kaduna prelaunch media roundtable in Abuja

Nigeria’s fertiliser production is set to hit 3.2 million metric tons at the end of year as OCP Africa – a top producer of phosphate-based fertilizers launches $13.4 million blending plant in Kaduna State.

The fertiliser plant which is one of the three the company has built in the country has already commenced operation.

The other two include the Ogun State blending plant projected to become operational by January 2023 and the Sokoto plant proposed for launching between April and May 2023. The three plants combined will produce 500,000 metric tonnes of fertiliser annually.

Caleb Usoh, deputy managing director, programme incubation for West Africa, OCP Africa, disclosed this while speaking recently to journalists ahead of the formal inauguration of the Kaduna fertiliser blending plant.

He said each of the blending plants has a production capacity of 120metric tons per hour and a holding capacity of 25,000metric tons of finished product.

He added that the investment is made to strengthen the fertiliser manufacturing value chains. “We are optimistic that it would aid the eradication of substandard fertiliser products in Nigeria’s industrial landscape, particularly in the farming inputs as expressed in the National Fertilser Control Act 2020.”

“The plant currently operates on a Toll Blending partnership arrangement that allows industry players and brand owners to leverage on OCP Africa’s plant capacity and expertise to provide quality fertilizers to their customers,” he said.