The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, has revealed that the number of fertilizer blending plants in Nigeria, has risen from 7 to over 48, since the assumption of office by President Muhammadu Buhari in 2015. This is as 35 million blended bags of fertilizer has been produced in the country within the last 5 years.
Emefiele disclosed this while speaking at the official commissioning of the $2.5 billion Dangote Fertilizer plant at Ibeju-Lekki, by President Muhammadu Buhari, on Tuesday.
The CBN Government attributed this achievement to the efforts of the Presidential Fertilizer Initiative which was set up by the President to resolve the perennial fertilizer shortages and ultimately ensure food sufficiency in the country.
What the CBN Governor is saying
Emefiele in his statement said, “Prior to Mr President assuming office in 2015, Nigeria imported virtually all its fertiliser products to support its agricultural sector. In response to this situation, Mr President inaugurated the Presidential Fertiliser Initiative chaired by the Governor of Jigawa State, Governor Badaru, and checked with us to resolve this perennial fertiliser shortage problem.
“I am delighted to note that their work and the continued support of Mr President has resulted in a significant increase in our nation’s blending capacity from seven plants in 2015, to over 48 active fertiliser blending plants today.
‘’Indeed during the last 5 years, over 35 million blended fertilizer bags have been produced in Nigeria. Consequently, our import bill on fertilizer has not only declined significantly, but we are also witnessing investment in the fertilizer industry such as the one being commissioned by the Dangote Group.’’
The CBN boss also highlighted some of the benefits of having more fertiliser blending plants to the nation’s economy.
He said, “Our import bill on fertiliser has not only declined significantly, but we are also witnessing rising investment in the fertiliser industry, such as the one being commissioned today by the Dangote Group.
“Today, Nigeria is self-sufficient in the production of urea, and we are also leading in the production of urea on the African continent.
“There is no doubt that improving access to fertiliser will contribute to significant improvement in productivity of our local farmers but probably, more importantly, it will enhance our nation’s drive to improve food security and ensure we consume what we produce in Nigeria, thereby fulfilling another key promise and vision of the administration.”
What you should know
- Recall that on Tuesday, March 22, 2022, President Muhammadu Buhari, officially commissioned the $2.5 billion Dangote Fertilizer plant at an event well attended by the leadership of the National Assembly, several state governors, many political, traditional, and religious leaders, as well as key members of the private sector from various parts of the country.
- The Dangote Fertiliser Plant is Africa’s largest Granulated Urea Fertiliser complex. The plant occupies 500 hectares of land in Lekki Free Trade Zone, Lagos Nigeria and was built at a cost of $2.5 Billion.
- With Nigeria estimated to need about 5 to 7 million metric tonnes per annum of fertiliser and with the current level of fertiliser consumption in the country which is 1.5 million metric tonnes, the Dangote Fertiliser complex was established to produce 3 million metric tonnes per annum of urea fertiliser in phase 1.
- Dangote Fertiliser works with Farmer Associations, Corporate Farms, NPK Blenders, NGO/development partners and State Governments all over Nigeria, as well as governments across Africa and beyond who are looking for a sustainable approach to improve soil and farm yields.
- The coming on stream of Dangote Fertilizer would surely make Africa self-sufficient in food production and a net exporter of food to the world.
