Nigeria’s acting president, Osinbajo, unveils Indorama’s $1.5bn fertilizer plant

Yemi Osinbajo, Nigeria’s acting president, Thursday in Port Harcourt inaugurated a giant world-class fertilizer plant, built by Indorama Eleme Fertilizer and Chemicals Limited at the cost of $1.5 billion.

The Plant has a production capacity of 4000 metric tons (MT) of nitrogenous fertilizers per day or 1.5 MT per annum

The acting president used the opportunity to remind all Nigerians that time has come for them to grow whatever they eat and produce whatever they consume.

“What Indorama is accomplishing today is very much in line with President Buhari’s vision for a country that produces what it consumes and grows what it eats. If you had to sum up our vision for the Nigerian economy in a few words, these would suffice. Grow what we eat, produce what we consume,” he said.

Prof Osinbajo commended Indorama for keying into the Presidential Fertilizer initiative, which President Buhari launched last year to make fertilizers cheaper nationwide.

The acting president also presented a Certificate of Discharge to Indorama Group for successfully accomplishing the post purchase agreement entered into with the Bureau of Public Enterprises on behalf of the Federal Government of Nigeria.

“Following the 2006 handover, the BPE carried out routine monitoring on the enterprise to ensure that the core investor adhered to and implemented the post-acquisition plan it had laid out for the company.”

“Today is the culmination of that process of monitoring and oversight by the BPE. I am delighted that it is taking place on an inspiring and hopeful note, and that we are all here today celebrating a thriving and promising company. We should not take this state of affairs for granted,” he said.

Earlier in his address, Sri Prakash, chairman of Indorama Corporation, said that the plant, which has capacity to produce 1.5 million metric tons of fertilizer per annum is the largest single-train urea plant in the world.

The Plant has a production capacity of 4000 metric tons (MT) of nitrogenous fertilizers per day or 1.5 MT per annum. The world-scale plant has been built with an investment of USD 1.5 billion, a huge Foreign Direct Investment, funded by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and a Consortium of 15 European and African banks and Financial Institutions.

Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State, in his speech said that for Indorama to invest a whopping $1.5 billion in the state, it shows that the state is safe for investors and their investments. He called on other investors to emulate the footsteps of Indorama.

The fertilizer plant is well supported by Port Terminal at the nearby Onne Port Complex, and a Gas Pipeline of 83.5KM for gas supply. The plant will bring about a green revolution in the agriculture sector not only in Nigeria but also in other parts of Africa and world at large.