Mamuda Agro and Allied Products Nigeria Limited, one of Nigeria`s leading manufacturing companies based in the commercial city of Kano, says it is leveraging on the new gas-powered electricity generation plant it acquired to scale up production activity in the company which will translate into additional job opportunities.
To this end, the company disclosed that the deployment of the 6 megawatts of electricity to be generated from the new multi-billion naira gas-powered plant at its factory in Challawa Industrial Estate will enable it up the number of factory hands in the company to over 5000.
Hassan Hammoud, chief executive officer of the company, who made this disclosure, while speaking to BusinessDay, on the sidelines of the flagging off of the power plant by the minister of petroleum, in Kano on Tuesday, stated that the establishment of the power plant will go a long way in assisting the company to reduce the huge cost it is expending on electricity supply.
Hassan revealed that the additional factory hands which his company planned to engage would be deployed in the operation of new food processing plants which are to start production next year.
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“I wish to convey our appreciation to the Federal Government for its on-going efforts aimed at opening up the Gas sector which has provided us the opportunity to invest in the development of this power plant. There is no doubt our investment in this plant is going to help us to reduce the cost of production.
“The plant that is being commissioned today, by the Honourable Minister, is built at the moment to generate about 6 megawatts, but on completion will be generating 22.5 megawatts which are going to enough to meet our energy demand, and the remain we intend to supply to other companies in the industrial Estate.
“As you know the issue of energy has been the number of challenge that is confronting manufacturing in northern Nigeria, particularly, here in Kano known to be the industrial hub of the region, and we are glad that the extension of gas supply to this part of the country will no doubt go a long way in addressing this challenge”, Hassan pointed out.
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The CEO noted that the Federal Government has been supportive by making it easy for the company to obtain a license for power generation, as well as broker an arrangement with the Port-Harcourt based Greenville Liquefied Natural Gas Company Nigeria, the major supplier of natural gas to the plant.
Hassan, who is also the founder of Mamuda Group of Companies, the foremost leather manufacturing company in Nigeria that is currently, the biggest employer of labour, says the deployment of gas for industrial use is also going to reduce carbon emissions associated with industrial activities in the state.
“The move by Greenville Liquefied Natural Gas Company Limited to bring gas to industrial consumers in northern is a very significant development which is going to impact positively on our operating cost of fuel when compared to the cost that we do expend on diesel and LPFO.
“Using gas is also very good for our environment, as friendly to the environment because of its low carbon emission,” he added.
Mamuda Agro & Allied Products Nigeria Limited, according to him, is into the manufacturing of polypropylene bags for packaging of cement and agriculture products was established in 1996.
The commissioning of the power plant has now made it possible for the company to restructure its electricity from the public power supply, as the investment in the plant has now made it self-reliant in the power supply.
