Indorama Nigeria has confirmed lining up another $3 billion (N1.5 trillion) investment chest that may turn Nigeria to the largest petrochemicals hub in the world.
If this is added to existing investments in petrochemicals and fertilizer plants in Eleme, near Port Harcourt, Rivers State, the total investment of $6.5Bn or N3.5 trillion would make Nigeria a top player in converting gas to finished products and push Nigeria’s agric sector higher.
The decision to invest another $3Bn was conveyed to the federal government at the weekend through Prof. Ibrahim Gambari, chief of staff to President Muhammadu Buhari, and Zainab S Ahmed, minister of finance, budget, and national planning, who visited Indorama complex in Eleme.
The two visitors were accompanied by Uche Orji, managing director/CEO of the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA), to the petrochemicals plant and the fertilizer plant. The visitors expressed amazement at the array of plants, corrugated piping of various sizes, and vats humming in the facility.
The government officials commended Indorama-Nigeria for its immense contributions to the Presidential Fertilizer Initiative (PFI) in the past five years.
Read also: Map story: Tracking crude oil theft in Nigeria
Giving details of the new investment, Manish Mundra, managing director of Indorama-Nigeria, noted that despite the spiralling price of fertilizer in the international market, Indorama is ensuring that Nigerian farmers get the commodity at the cheapest prices in the world.
Mundra and other top management team had earlier taken the visitors and their entourage on a facility tour of the Indorama industrial complex.
After seeing the huge investments and operations fuelling Nigeria’s industrialization and agricultural revolution, the Chief of Staff said: “Indeed seeing is believing, we have come, seen and are very impressed”.
“Indorama has been at the forefront of supporting the Presidential Fertilizer Initiative by supplying urea on a timely basis,” Gambari said.
The professor said the officials were quite impressed with Indorama’s huge investments in petrochemicals, fertilizer, gas pipeline, port development and allied utilities, which the company put at $3.5 billion.
He also said that Indorama Fertilizer Limited has been a major supporter of President Buhari’s agricultural revolution with its production of 3 million metric tons of Urea per annum through its two world-class fertilizer plants in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
He said Indorama’s vision is in line with President Buhari’s economic diversification agenda, and added that they were impressed with Indorama’s vision to build Africa’s largest petrochemicals and fertilizer hub in Nigeria.
“The government will support all genuine initiatives at industrializing the country and supplying fertilizers to millions of farmers across the country,” he said.
He also said the federal government is happy that Indorama-Nigeria has in the past few years become a major exporter of fertilizers to earn foreign exchange.
On her part, the finance minister said her visit has awakened her interest in what can be achieved for the country through the development of the gas value chain.
Indorama-Eleme Petrochemicals Company Limited is the current Management of Eleme Petrochemicals Company Ltd (EPCL), having taken over management/ownership of the company from Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) in 2006. This major Olefins Plant (Eleme Petrochemical complex) is situated on a site approximately 9km2 and is located some 15 km north-east of Port Harcourt, the capital of Rivers State.
Indorama owns 65 per cent of Indorama Eleme Petrochemicals, NNPC 10 per cent, the government of Rivers state 10 per cent, host communities 7.5 per cent, the Nigerian federal government 5 per cent, and employees 2.5 per cent.
The company was run aground for decades until its privatization in 2006 which has seen it grow in leaps and bounds aiming to hit N3.5 trillion investments before 2026.
