From Uche Usim, Abuja
A major step towards addressing Nigeria’s food insecurity, unemployment and foreign exchange shortages has been taken by SWIBER Africa Limited and PowerChina, a wholly owned Chinese company, to build four industrial parks in Abia State, estimated to gulp over $500 million.
The project, midwifed under a joint venture arrangement, seeks to employ over 20,000 Nigerians directly and hundreds of thousands indirectly.
Speaking at the project signing ceremony in Abuja on Monday, the adviser to the contracting parties and Chief Whip of the Nigerian Senate, Dr Orji Uzor Kalu, described the four industrial parks as a mega project that courses through some communities in Bende Local Government Area of Abia State.
“The project passes through Ugwuoke, Alayi, Abiriba and other communities in Bende LGA.
“The project entails building an agriculture industrial zone, which includes crop planting and processing plants for rice, cassava, cashew nut and related products. The integral part is that everything is for export.
“NNPC is no longer yielding money and we need to chart a new road to getting foreign exchange.
“We hope the FG will come to our aid. We need dams, we need the Customs and the government to declare the area as free trade zone area, among other assistance. It’ll create thousands of jobs and income for the government and stakeholders. It will create economic activities that will favour Abia State and Nigeria in general. This is a PPP and they look forward to the takeoff and completion of the project. The Abia State government will buy into this initiative. We have met the laws of the state and the Governor is aware of it.
“I am here in an advisory capacity. Any day I leave politics, I’ll go back to this business”, Kalu said.
Also speaking, the Managing Director of SWIBER Africa, Emeka Eboh, said the four industrial parks create enormous jobs, saying it will be mutually beneficial to all parties.
On funding, he said PowerChina and SWIBER would jointly fund the project on an equity arrangement.
“Equity positions will be clearly defined as we trudge on”, he added.
In his presentation, Diego Tian, the Chief Representative of PowerChina in Nigeria said the project, when completed, will highly boost Nigeria’s self-sufficiency in food security, adding that 20,000 jobs for the local employees were guaranteed.
“Nigeria is always our priority market. Over the past 20 years, we have completed and delivered many successful projects such as Papalanto 335MW Gas Fired Power Plant and 750MW Gas Fired Power Plant in Ogun State, the Kainji/Jeba Hydroelectric Power Plant in Niger State, the Dadin Kowa 40MW Hydropower Plant in Gombe State.
“Currently, we are working on the 700MW Zungeru Hydroelectric Power Project in Niger State which is the biggest hydropower plant in Nigeria. And we are also working on the Irrigation and road project in Kano, Dam rehabilitation in
Sokoto, gold mining in Osun, and so on,” he stated.