The Federal Government and OCP Africa, a global provider of phosphate and its derivatives, are to build a $1.5bn fertiliser complex in Akwa Ibom State.
OCP Africa also announced an investment of $43m in three fertiliser blending plants in Ogun, Kaduna and Sokoto states. It said the plant in Kaduna was already producing fertilsers, while others would start production next year.
The Deputy Managing Director, Programme Incubation for West Africa, OCP Africa, Caleb Usoh, disclosed this while speaking at a press conference in Abuja on Friday ahead of the formal inauguration of the $14m Kaduna fertiliser blending plant.
He said the firm, in partnership with the Federal Government, would establish a multi-billion dollar fertiliser complex in Nigeria to deepen the use of standard fertilisers by Nigerian farmers.
Usoh said, “Talking of our investments in the plants, today the value of those three (Ogun, Kaduna and Sokoto) plants is about $43m. The industrial plant, which will be delivered in the next four years, is valued at $1.5bn.
“Those are the values of our investments in Nigeria in terms of plant or production capacity. We must, however, clarify that the big industrial platform in Akwa Ibom is a partnership between OCP and the Nigerian government.
“The Nigerian government is being represented by the NSIA (Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority). The industrial complex is to have a lot of activities in it, beyond just one plant.”
He added, “The industrial complex is going to have multiple plants, including the ammonia plant that converts natural gas to ammonia. It is more than a blending plant.
“At the complex, we will convert natural gas and make the end product to become another thing. The facility is also going to be having a jetty of its own for fertiliser export.”
On whether OCP Africa partnered any firm to finance the Kaduna plant that would be inaugurated next week, Usoh said the firm funded the project.
He said, “It is our project. However, when we started the project, because of the kind of technology we wanted to bring into the plant, which is different from most blending plants, we had a grant partner in USAID.
“They were excited that we were trying to bring in specialised equipment that will blend macro and micro elements. So, they sponsored part of the equipment to the tune of $1.4m for that Kaduna plant.
“The Kaduna plant is worth $14m. It is currently producing and is to be officially inaugurated next week. Ogun will start production from January 2023, but the Kaduna plant started producing fertilisers on February 16, 2022.”