Teragro saves Nigeria N1.3bn with unique plant

Teragro limited, the agribusiness subsidiary of Transnational Corporation of Nigeria Plc will save the Nation about $8 million (N1.3 billion) foreign exchange annually on reduction of orange juice concentrates, mango puree and mango concentrates importation.

The plant which is first-of-its-kind in the country has installed capacity to produce up to 26,500 metric tonnes of juice concentrates per annum. Jide Adedeji, CEO Teragro disclosed this in a press conference during the commissioning of the factory in Makurdi by President Goodluck Jonathan.

According to him, Nigeria spent $55 million (N8.7 billion) on importation of juice concentrate in 2007, and with what the country producing; foreign exchange spent on importation could be conserved by ten percent in a year.

Against the general notion about the quality of oranges produced in the country, he said: ‘‘People think that something is wrong with the use of our orange; the taste is not good and the yield is low which is not true. What people do is pluck the oranges when they are not mature and that makes it bitter; if we treat and handle them correctly, we will have same results they do in Brazil, Spain and the US.’’

Adedeji noted that ‘‘What happens sometimes is that our farmers stop planting because they have no market for their produce, experiencing about sixty – sixty five percent post planting loss is a disincentive, but now they know there is a market to take their produce to.’’

He asserted that the country buys a lot of concentrates from the rest of the world, so the factory can only reduce the level of importation of juice concentrate into Nigeria. ‘‘If there are two or three more factories like this, and we gather all these together, then we can begin to look in the area of stopping importation. We have spent substantial amount of money in setting up the business, but this is not something any serious entrepreneur cannot afford,’’ he said.

‘‘We have put into consideration the cost of financing and profitability; the business is capable of producing fifty to sixty percent return on investment, and after taxes it comes to about thirty-two percent. We have a long term goal of fostering private – public partnership; we are fortunate that this plant was set up in 2007 by the Benue State government, and we have it for 10 years,’’ he further states.

Obinna Ufudo, CEO Transcorp Nigeria lamented that Nigeria as the second producer of citrus in the World, does not have any business importing concentrates. He noted that the factory is capable of processing in large commercial quantities, hence a good market for farmers who are conscious of expanding their production.

‘‘We are looking at quadtripling the size of the plant in one to three years. There is prospect of profit making with renewed emphasis on adding value,’’ Ufudo said.

Transcorp is a diversified strategic investor with core interest in the agro-business, hospitality and upstream petroleum exploration sectors.