Private companies and individuals now have the opportunity to vie to manage the ten new rice mills which will be established by the Federal Government to enhance the milling capacity of rice in the country.
The information was revealed by Heineken Lokpobiri, the Minister of State for Agriculture, while briefing State House Correspondents at the end of a recent Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting, held inside the council chamber of the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Mr. Lokpobiri said Nigeria needs a minimum of 100 large mills but as of today, the country only has 21 mills. Closing the gap would contribute to food sustainability and save the country huge foreign exchange from importation of rice. He estimated the total cost of the 10 large, new mills at N10.7billion.
He said the new mills will be given to the private sector to manage and they will be expected to pay back within a given time frame as will be agreed between the Bank of Agriculture and the rice mills.
Currently, about 30 states are growing rice in the country. However, the memo submitted to FEC showed that the 10 new rice mills will be located across the six geopolitical zones of the country in the following states of the federation: Kebbi, Zamfara, Benue, Kogi, Bayelsa, Anambra, Kaduna, Niger, Ogun, and Bauchi. The capacity of each rice mill is 100 tons per day.
Individuals and private companies with capacity to manage rice mills in respective states listed should contact the Ministry of Agriculture and Bank of Agriculture for more information. Others businesses in the value chain like bagging companies, wholesale/retailers of rice, rice farmers and so on should also take necessary steps to key into the business.
