WACOT Rice Limited, a subsidiary of TGI Group which is based in Argungu, Kebbi State, will create 60,000 jobs across Nigeria and West Africa through its partnership with the USAID on the rice outgrower expansion project.
Deputy Chief of Party for USAID’s West Africa Trade and Investment Hub (WATIH) project, Mr Karl LittleJohn stated this during the co-investment partnership launch with USAID in Argungu.
He said: “The core objective of establishing WACOT in Argungu and the launching of this partnership today is to create catalyst for investment and provide grants to more farmers”.
LittleJohn explained that the jobs created would be available across Nigeria and West Africa. “We want to show that we can create jobs. And we want to also increase trade investment with our partners across West African countries”.
In his remarks, Chairman of WACOT Rice Limited, Farouk Gumel said that over 2,000 jobs have been created by the company due to the USAID partnership. He stated that the expansion of the company has given opportunities for more farmers to cultivate more land for rice production.
Earlier, the United States Ambassador to Nigeria, Mary Bert Leonard had said that the US government’s partnership with WACOT was to sustain food security and creation of more jobs in Nigeria.