By Ayomide Oriade
Minister for Investment, Trade and Industry, Mr. Olusegun Aganga on Tuesday 22nd June, 2014 paid a working visit to Erisco Foods Limited, makers of Ric-Giko Tomato paste at their Oregun factory, in Ikeja, Lagos state. The minister who undertook a tour of the state-of-the art processing and packaging facilities of the company was impressed by the production capacity of the facility most of whose material and manpower will be generated locally in the short and long term.
Chief Eric Umeofia, President and CEO of the company while leading the minister on the tour explained that the 200,000 metric tons per annum capacity plant which has a canning line with 5 varieties of sizes and satchets will contribute immensely to local processing of fresh tomato paste and give support to the industry and the implementation of the backward integration programme of the federal government as plans are on to begin massive cultivation of tomatoes in Jigawa, Kano and other states, complete with ideal storage facilities to adequately keep the processing plants busy at all times.
Chief Umeofia observed that Erisco Foods’ production capacity will also enable genuine importers, packagers and bulk traders of tomato paste to start getting the product without the pains of procuring exchange from Europe and Asia.
Expressing his delight at the initiative which is the first of its kind and also the biggest in Africa, Mr. Aganga stated that the cultivation of home-grown resources by the company makes it more special. “What’s so special about this is that your tomatoes will be home-grown from Jigawa, Kano and the rest of Nigeria in due course. You are empowering inclusive industrial development; right from the farming to the processing, the manufacturing and the packaging. So the job creation opportunity is very high. It’s a sort of area the government will be very delighted to support,” he said.
Chief Eric Umeofia who received the Minister along with his management team, bankers: the managing director of Keystone Bank, Mr. Philip Ikeazor, top management of Stanbic IBTC bank as well as key consultants, thanked the Minister for creating time for the visit. He also used the opportunity to solicit government support for indigenous manufacturers through enabling environment and favorable policies.
Citing supportive loans as an instance, Chief Umeofia noted that their bankers like to get monthly reports but the process of getting a loan is too rigorous. He however commended commercial banks such as Stanbic IBTC and Keystone for their support which the minister also acknowledged.
Chief Umeofia lamented the extent of resources and money being deployed into importing tomatoes, stating that importers of the product are being economical with the truth regarding the gross cost of importation in order to keep the trend of indiscriminate importation.
Chief Umeofia asked rhetorically: “Do you know how much they spend on importing tomatoes? They said $500m but I think they are wrong because I know how much I spend on raw materials not to talk of other expenses. You know most of the activities are not documented. Our import bill for importing tomatoes should be in the region of $1b minimum. He asserted, however, that with a little bit of help and support from the government, indigenous manufactures will easily provide home grown alternatives and quickly fill any gaps.
“The indigenous manufacturers especially in the Eastern part of Nigeria are ready to help develop this nation. We the indigenous manufacturers are ready to help the economy like we are doing now; just a little push from the government, we would make Nigeria self-sufficient in tomato production,” Chief Umeofia observed.
“We need a policy that will encourage Nigerians to patronize local goods like tomatoes. If you keep giving Nigerians the opportunity, they will keep going to import because it has become a psychological thing that imported materials are the best and which is not true,’’ he added.
Responding, the minister explained that the government, through the federal government’s National Industrial Revolution Plan (NIRP) is creating an enabling environment to support and encourage local enterprise that will stimulate local production of goods and services. He promised that the government will put in place policies and programmes that will ensure that investorslike Erisco Foods not just survive but succeed abundantly.
He noted that appropriate tariff policies will be introduced to ensure that local manufacturers are able to sell their products while ensuring that the country does not become a dumping ground for smuggled alternatives Mr. Aganga finally assured that government will look at the situation concerning importation of tomatoes and will make all necessary arrangements which will benefit the local manufacturers in the soonest possible time. Mr. Aganga promised to come back soon to evaluated the progress in the company’s activities.
