NIGERIA – WACOT Rice Limited, Nigerian subsidiary of Tropical General Investments Group, has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Lagos State government to provide technical support and training transfer for the Imota Rice Mill once completed.
The rice processing factory, which is currently under construction is expected to have a processing capacity of 32 tonnes of paddy rice per hour.
As part of the agreement, Wacot Rice will provide operational support and management of the plant for a period of 9 months after its launch, with the possibility of renewing the contract once the deadline has expired.
According to the authorities, this privatization of the operations of the rice mill aims in particular to ensure the efficient running of the factory in the long term.
“It was necessary for the government to put the rice mill on the path to sustainability and hand it over to a company that will promote quality.
“We sought to partner with a large-scale company operating in the sector with a stable brand and an eye for efficiency. This brings forth this Joint Venture and technical support agreement with WACOT,” explains Dr Rotimi Fashola, special adviser for agriculture in the state government.
This initiative is part of a strategy to enable the country attain self-sufficiency in production of rice in a bid to reduce the import bills and meet the high demand of the commodity locally.
“We are ready to work with Lagos State to make the facility run smoothly. We will deploy the best skills, techniques and training to make the government proud of this investment ,” said Rahul Savara, Managing Director of TGI Group.
Founded in 2017 in Kebbi State, Wacot Rice has an installed processing capacity of 120,000 tonnes of paddy rice per year and a total storage capacity of 42,000 tonnes of the cereal.
In other related news, Crown Flour Mill (CFM) Limited, the flour milling subsidiary of Olam Agri has empowered indigent women in the country with baking skills.
The training programme accompanied with certification, offers the participants an opportunity to take up employment in the hospitality sector or set up their own baking outfits.
The beneficiaries of the empowerment initiative tagged, ’Crown Flour Angels’ (CFA) were presented with the National Business and Technical Examinations Board (NABTEB) examination certificate at an event organised by the flour milling business, recently.
Speaking on the gesture, Country Head for Olam Agri Nigeria, Ashish Pande congratulated the women, while urging them to make the best use of the acquired skills.
He said: “We are committed to enriching the lives of the people across our operating market by providing nutritious, safe and affordable food for the population as well as enabling the actualization of the fine aspirations of the individuals within the population by supporting the economic development agenda of the government.
“The CFA initiative is one of the valuable levers we are pulling continuously to deliver on the Seeds for the Future programme, our signature value chain development initiative that focuses on supporting farming communities, enabling wider education and skill development for young people, empowering indigent women and promoting health and nutrition across the country.”
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