Nigeria plans to establish a $1 billion crop-processing park with
Turkish investors in the country’s north as part of efforts to improve
value and boost agricultural exports, according to the country’s
investment-promotion agency.
The Badeggi Crop Processing Zone in Niger state is expected to
start in June next year, with an initial investment of $250 million by a
Turkish investor, deputy director at Abuja-based Nigerian Investment
Promotion Council, Aminu Takuma, said in an Oct. 30 interview.
Additional funds of $800 million will follow and the investor will
operate the park on completion, he said without identifying the Turkish
partner, citing confidentiality obligations.
The facility will process more than 750,000 metric tons of crops
including rice, maize, yam, cassava, groundnuts and peas every year,
according to the agency. The government plans to set up 15 similar crop
zones across the country of more than 180 million people, including one
in Lagos, the country’s commercial capital.
President Muhammadu Buhari is trying to end the country’s
dependence on oil as it emerges from its worst economic slump in 25
years caused by a drop in the output and price of crude, which accounts
for more than 90 percent of foreign income. The government’s economic
growth plan seeks to increase the contribution of agriculture to gross
domestic product to more than 8 percent by 2020, from about 4 percent
this year.
Goods will be transported from the crop-processing zone through the
nearby Baro inland port on the Niger River, taking them down to the
coast for shipment abroad, Takuma said.
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