The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources and former governor of Bayelsa State, Timipre Marlin Sylva, has disclosed that Indorama-Nigeria is prepared to invest additional $6billion in the country, after investing $3billion so far.
The minister made the disclosure Thursday night, October 8, 2020, after inspecting the sprawling plant covering petrochemical facilities, fertilizer plant, a new fertilizer plant underway, and the world-class control room from where all plants are controlled by a few men 24 hours everyday. He was later taken to the boardroom where the managing director, Manish Mundra, made a presentation of the philosophy, operationability, business and financials of the group.
The minister who said his last time of visiting the place was in 2005 when it was still a fully-owned government entity under pitiable condition (moribund and dilapidated) said he is highly excited and pleased to see a world class facility making Nigeria proud.
He told newsmen: “This is very welcome value-addition to our economy, they are doing very well. They have invested over $3 billion and plan to invest over $6 billion in the Nigerian economy.”
The minister said Indorama’s over $3 billion investment has really helped Nigeria through creation of job opportunities, revenue to government, as well as supply of petrochemicals and fertilizers.
The former governor said Indorama is already partnering with the Nigerian government in supplying Urea fertilizer to the government (Presidential Fertilizer Initiative) and that this has really helped in no small way in developing the rice production sector.
“You can see that in just few years, Nigeria has become self-sufficient in rice as a commodity and that is also because of the huge support we get from Indorama.”
“They have also created a lot of jobs here and a lot of value here. We hope that this can be replicated everywhere around the country”.
“I have always said that gas is the way to diversify our economy and I have seen it practically today because what the polymers (petrochemicals) they produce here is raw material for other industries; and the fertilizer they produce is raw material for the agricultural sector”.
“You can see that effective gas utilization is at the foundation of expanding our economy and we hope that this can be replicated in other parts of Nigeria.”
The Minister said he had also noted the challenges facing the company and promised that government would look into them”.
He made it clear that Indorama-Nigeria presents a very good example of how the abundant gas resources in the country could be effectively utilized to impact the economy positively.
He said he came to see how gas which is under his ministry was being utilized for value-addition, saying all the things produced in Indorama Eleme Petrochemicals company is raw material for end products, a prospect that has saved Nigeria from high import bills, foreign exchange bleeding, and a boost in local manufacture of many products across board.
He thus exclaimed; “What I have seen here is heart-warming for this country. I have had a lesson in value-addition. I was here in 2005 in the old Eleme Petrochemicals Company and I saw the plant, an ailing plant at that time.
“But what I have seen here today is very marvelous. A lot has happened here; they have added a lot of trains, and added fertilizer Urea plant and other facilities”.
The Minister said the federal government was also very happy to see that Indorama-Nigeria is living well and peaceful with its host communities. The host communities have 7.5 per cent equity share in IEPCL and still get many other supports and facilities as corporate social responsibility (CSR) projects.
The Minister and his entourage were received at the complex by top officials of the company led by the CEO, Mundra, who assured the Minister that Indorama-Nigeria was poised to its vision of building the largest petrochemicals and fertilizer hub of Africa in Nigeria!
