BENIN – Africa Jutes Industries, a company specializing in the processing of agricultural products, is seeking to invest FCFA 1 billion (US$1.5m) in the construction of a jute bag production unit at the Glo-Djigbé Industrial Zone (GDIZ) in Benin.
GDIZ, developed by the Société d’Investissement et de Promotion de L’Industrie – BENIN (SIPI BENIN), is a joint-venture between Arise Integrated Industrial Platforms (IIP), Africa Finance Corporation (AFC), and the Republic of Benin.
Africa Jutes is one of the entities of the multinational Africa Negoce Industries, present in Benin and Niger.
The new unit, set up on a 2 hectares piece of land, is expected to have an annual production capacity of 25 (twenty-five) million jute bags, reducing West Africa’s dependence on imports from Asia.
Once completed, it is expected to generate over 1,000 direct and indirect jobs in the West African country.
The manufactured bags will be supplied mainly to cashew farmers across the country for the collection of cashews.
Once collected, according to GDIZ, the bags will find their way back to the zone for repair when need be, thereby resulting in huge cost savings for the Beninese cashew industry.
The bags will also be available for packaging of cocoa, paddy, onion and other agricultural items across West Africa.
This new investment in the area confirms the confidence that local and international investors put in GDIZ.
”Our ambition is to make the GDIZ an eco-friendly ecosystem that will make West Africa self-sufficient in all aspects of Benin’s agricultural product processing.
“Thanks to this partnership signed with Africa Jutes Bags, GDIZ will become a key player in the production of Made in Benin, biodegradable, recyclable and suitable packaging for the agricultural sector nationally and internationally,” said Mr. Létondji BEHETON, Managing Director SIPI-BENIN SA.
Further promoting sustainable agriculture, the diversified industrial zone, has welcomed a FCFA 7 billion (US$10.9m) investment from HRD Industries, an agro-processor.
HRD Industries is one of the entities of the multinational HRD Group present in the UAE, India and Nigeria.
It has set foot in the GDIZ and will be basing its activity in an oil and bio-charcoal production unit utilizing cashew nut shells as its raw material.
The processing unit is expected to have an annual production capacity of 50,000 liters of oil and 45,000 tons of bio-charcoal.
The kickstarting of HRD Industries activities, scheduled for September 2022 on an area of three hectares, will make GDIZ a zero-waste zone.
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