A United States-based organic fertiliser company, Biowish-Crop, on Monday said it would establish an African branch in Kebbi State.
Biowish’s Chief Marketing Officer in Nigeria, Bill Stevens, gave the hint at a meeting with the state’s branch of the All Farmers’ Association of Nigeria in Birnin Kebbi.
Stevens said the company, when completed, would employ over 1,000 workers.
She said the company had earlier planned to establish the branch in South Africa but later opted for Nigeria.
She said: “We don’t want to be importing fertilisers from the US into Nigeria.
“Rather, we want to have a factory here in this country.
“We have chosen Kebbi because the state has stable electricity for the industrial sector.
“Kebbi also has a lot of farmers and a lot of opportunities for the state to have a fertiliser company of pyre organics.
“So, we want to have such a company in Kebbi.”
According to Stevens, both the Federal Government and National Agency for Drug Administration and Food and Control are aware of their presence of the company in Nigeria since 2014.
She pointed out that the company’s fertilisers have been experimented in Kwara, Zamfara, Sokoto, Kaduna and Kebbi States, and were adjudged to be best for crops output increment.
She said: “Once the consumers patronise our product and they appreciate it, we can now start producing in Kebbi.
“So, there is no need to be importing any more.
“We can just be importing the inputs and be manufacturing here in Kebbi.
“If we start the factory, within the first year to five years, we can employ from 250 to 1,000 as we are expanding.
“This is because we are not only going to be producing fertilisers for Nigeria alone, but for other African countries.”
