The mention of tomato paste production in the country is almost always followed by the name of Africa’s richest person, Aliko Dangote. This is not surprising given the multi-million Naira tomato processing firm that he built in Kano State. However, it seems that his competition just got a lot stiffer.
The controversial CEO of Erisco Foods, Chief Eric Umeofia, stated in Lagos on Wednesday at a press briefing that his company, already manufacturing tomato paste in the country, has agreed a partnership deal with certain Asian firms to build a tomato factory in Katsina State to be used as a base for exportation of tomato paste to all African countries. If true, the factory could definitely mean that Dangote’s competition just got a lot stiffer.
The partnership he said was one of the dividends of the decision of the Federal Government to ban the importation of tomato paste into the country. According to him, the Asian firms were previously importers of tomato paste into the country. However, the ban had halted their business and made investing in Nigeria a more favorable option. Another dividend which will definitely gladden Umeofia’s heart is the 20% increase in sales his company achieved despite the economic recession that the country experienced in 2016.
Umeofia has been in the news since last year when the dollar crunch was particularly severe when he made threats of sacking several of his workers, then later of shutting down his Nigerian operations and relocating to another African country due to what he perceived as a biased allocation of the then scarce foreign exchange.
It seems that the serial complainer is still his usual self as he used the press briefing as another opportunity to complain again- this time over the frustration of government’s efforts by the Central Bank of Nigeria, government’s Ministries, Agencies and Departments, who he claimed still allocated huge amount of forex to importers of 41 items restricted from getting forex at official rate. Despite these complaints, one has the feeling that the CEO will afford himself a little smile in private if the partnership comes to fruition as his company could be mentioned in the same breath as that of Dangote’s.
