Its time to grow the home-made Nigeria Rice Business - Dangote

NIGERIA enjoys a perfect rice-growing climate over a vast area yet it is the world’s second biggest importer of the staple, often from countries in its warm, wet tropical latitude like top exporter Thailand.

It’s one of those baffling Nigerian paradoxes, like the fact that it is Africa’s top oil producer yet suffers frequent fuel shortages; or that it is sitting on the eighth largest gas reserves but can only produce a few hours of power a day.

As with the other bottlenecks holding back Africa’s biggest economy, decades of bad governance and corruption lie at the root of Nigeria’s agricultural dysfunction. But unlike oil, where reform remains deadlocked by vested interests, the government is making efforts to clean up the farming sector and attract investment.

Africa’s richest man Aliko Dangote thinks he can resolve the rice conundrum. He plans to do this by investing in farmland and mechanising farming practices in a country where many farmers still depend on pre-industrial tilling techniques. Given his track record in other areas, this is a project to watch.

“Everything you need for rice is here, but unfortunately for a long time no one was interested,” he said. Not having enough land was the first obstacle that faced him after he thought of the idea. He was surprised at how easily that got solved, as the governments of Jigawa, Niger, Kebbi, Edo and Kwara states between them offered 50 000 hectares to Dangote Industries.

“I think this is enough for us to grow and process up to a million tons of rice in the next four years,” he said. “I believe this is just the beginning.”

http://www.iol.co.za/business/international/dangote-to-put-rice-on-nigerian-tables-1.1776710#.VFyCwsnUZGc