Rivers Cassava Initiative’ll Create 3,000 Jobs, Boost GDP -Wike

The Rivers State Governor, Chief Nyesom Wike, has expressed optimism that the state’s $12million (approximately N4,572,122,640.00) cassava processing initiative would create thousands of jobs in the state, and enhance the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the country.
The governor urged the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Federal Ministry of Agriculture to support the initiative to boost food security, create jobs and earn foreign exchange for the country.
Wike said this during a meeting with the board of the Rivers Cassava Processing Company Limited at the Government House, Port Harcourt, yesterday.
He explained that the state government ought to enjoy the support of the CBN in its endeavour to boost food production and reduce importation of cassava products, particularly processed starch into the country.
According to him, if the Rivers Cassava Processing Company is encouraged, the country’s dependence on imported cassava products would drastically reduce.
The governor regretted that the CBN has failed to accede to Rivers State Government’s request for N5billion to boost the agriculture sector in the state.
He noted that if part of the N5billion was invested in the Rivers cassava processing initiative, it would create jobs and reduce the unemployment rate.
He suggested that the state government’s 70 per cent equity in the company should be divested to encourage private sector participation and minimise government’s interference in the affairs of the company.
In his remarks, the Rivers State Commissioner for Agriculture, Dr Fred Kpakol, explained that the multi-million Dollar cassava processing plant located at Afam in Oyigbo Local Government Area, has the capacity to process 45,000 metric tons of cassava tuber to produce 12,500 metric tons of high quality cassava flour.
Kpakol said that the plant would create over 3,000 jobs, adding that in the medium term, the company would add starch to its products as well as glucose in the future.
Speaking, the Managing Director of the company, Reuben Giesen, said the facility would run on environment-friendly power supply from the Rivers State Independent Power Plant in Afam, thus, setting the pace for industrialisation of the area.
Giesen said that the state government and its partners, the Netherlands Embassy in Nigeria and the Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), have keyed into the cassava production policy of the Federal Government.
The External Relations Manager of SPDC, Mr Igo Wali, explained that Shell has already invested $3.6million into the project as a mark of its commitment to boost food security and enhance job creation in the state.