FG okays Union Dicon’s takeover of Kogi SCPZ

The Federal Government has agreed with Union Dicon to take over Kogi Staple Crops Processing Zone (SCPZ). The Alape SCPZ in Kogi State, which suffered an excruciating setback last January due to a sudden and debilitating pullout by Cargill, has now received a new lease of life as an indigenous company is set to take over in the next couple of weeks.

SCPZ is a vast zone where there is commercial production of food that would attract the private sector to set up food processing plant to process food into finished items and other products.

In a statement made available to Businessday, Audu Ogbeh, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development said “In January, when Cargill decided they were pulling out, some kind of uncertainty filled the air. But we decided that we were going to find people. Now, Dicon Salt has come in to replace Cargill. They have the capacity, both financial and managerial; to do it. And we are very excited to see that they are here.”

“They have given us a target of two years to put their projects in place. Activities will begin now.  It’s time to plant more cassava. Some 10,000 farmers in Kogi State and neighbouring states will need to get quite active,” Ogbeh said.

The minister noted that the takeover will bring the desired growth which the country has been waiting for and it is being talked about; all-inclusive growth, democracy in capitalism.

According to him the benefit will cover not just one person but; the industrialist who is making money, the peasant farmer, the tipper driver, the harvester, the security guard, the sweeper, the factory worker. “Every person enjoys it when a scheme works out like this,” he added.

Ogbeh also stated that the Staple Crops Processing Zone idea was a great innovation of the last administration and that his administration would not engage in policy summersault but would rather build the great idea and add even bigger ideas.

Chuka Mordi co-managing director and chief executive officer, Union Dicon Salt, said that the firm is looking to take over Kogi scpz project.

“We are fully indigenous. It is a remarkable opportunity to develop the agribusiness space in Nigeria from a fully indigenous perspective,” Mordi said.                                                      

“The Union Dicon is listed in the Nigerian Stock Exchange, so it is a wholly Nigerian company. That is very important for the things we want to achieve in Nigeria for Nigerians. There are manifold benefits. We import almost 300,000 metric tons of starch every year. So that is a significant amount of foreign exchange we are saving,” he added.

In his words, “in terms of industry capacity, in terms of employment, economic growth, and the multiplier effects this is going to have on the Nigerian economy is very significant.”

“We are very thankful that we have a minister that can see continuity and something as a priority. The key now is that we need to ensure local content. Even in that value chain, we are not extracting enough value. But extracting value is what the project will enable us to do,” said Bekuochi Nwawudu, who is alos a co-managing director and chief executive officer, Union Dicon Salt.

Josephine Okojie