Business
Institute Plans Tomato Processing Plants In The North
The National Research Institute for Chemical Technology (NARICT) says plans are underway to establish tomato processing plants in the northern part of the country.
The Acting Director-General of the institute, Prof. Mohammed Kabir-Yakubu, said this on Monday in Zaria, Kaduna State, while interacting with newsmen on the recent achievements of the institute.
He said: “What we want to do in NARICT is to help government set up small tomato processing plants across Northern Nigeria because we lack the processing technology.
“Those who process tomato in Nigeria have to import tomato concentrates from China, Vietnam, India and other countries who produce tomato in high volumes.
“We are going to meet with Ericsson next week; the idea is that we want to be able to mop up excess tomato available at peak harvest periods and convert them into concentrates,’’ he said.
Kabir-Yakubu said that Ericsson would tell the institute the quality analysis it wanted in terms of moisture contents and other prerequisites.
He said that Ericsson would come and buy tomato from the farmers, adding that such moves would eliminate a lot of waste, boost farming activities and improve the farmers’ revenue base.
“Instead of carrying raw tomato from the northern to southern parts of this country, incurring waste in the process, farmers will now have value for their efforts.
“So, this small processing plants across Northern Nigeria will now convert everything into concentrates, just like what we used to import,’’ he said.
Kabir-Yakubu said that the mandate of the institute was basically research, adding, however, that the results of the research often ended up at the pilot-plant stage.
He, however, said that it was up to the entrepreneurs to invest in the production of the prototypes for onward uses in a larger capacity.
Besides, the director-general said that the institute had developed a fertiliser processing plant, which was now being managed by Zakaf under some arrangements.
“This plant has the capacity to produce 30 tonnes of organic fertiliser per day; it also processes inorganic fertiliser.
“However, due to the importance of organic fertiliser, we limit the facility to that. We have the capacity, if we are engaged, to produce enough fertiliser for the country.
‘‘All the same, we are into partnership with some state governments on the production of organic fertilisers from neem,’’ he added.
The Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) has said that Bank Verification Number (BVN) enrolments rose by 6.8 per cent year-on-year to 67.8 million as at December 2025, up from 63.5 million recorded in the corresponding period of 2024.
In a statement published on its website, NIBSS attributed the growth to stronger policy enforcement by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the expansion of diaspora enrolment initiatives.
NIBSS noted that the expansion reinforces the BVN system’s central role in Nigeria’s financial inclusion drive and digital identity framework.
Another major driver, the statement said, was the rollout of the Non-Resident Bank Verification Number (NRBVN) initiative, which allows Nigerians in the diaspora to obtain a BVN remotely without physical presence in the country.
A five-year analysis by NIBSS showed consistent growth in BVN enrolments, rising from 51.9 million in 2021 to 56.0 million in 2022, 60.1 million in 2023, 63.5 million in 2024 and 67.8 million by December 2025. The steady increase reflects stronger compliance with biometric identity requirements and improved coverage of the national banking identity system.
However, NIBSS noted that BVN enrolments still lag the total number of active bank accounts, which exceeded 320 million as of March 2025.
The gap, it explained, is largely due to multiple bank accounts linked to single BVNs, as well as customers yet to complete enrolment, despite the progress recorded.