LAGOS, Nov 6 (Reuters) - 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 world's 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 serious
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.
GET LAND, ADD WATER AND SOW
"Everything you need for rice is here, but
unfortunately for a long time no one was
interested," he told Reuters in a telephone
interview. 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 tonnes of rice in the next four
years," he says. "I believe this is just the
beginning."
To back up his optimism, he points to his past
success in producing cement.
Dangote grew his company over a decade from a
relatively small cement import business to a
behemoth that manufactures nearly 30 million
tonnes of the stuff a year, makes up a third of
Nigeria's stock exchange and now has factories in
various stages of completion across the continent.
For decades Nigeria was one of the world's biggest
cement importers. "We (Nigeria) were producing
less than 2 million tonnes of cement," in 2004, the
tycoon says.
Ten years later and Nigeria as a whole now
produces some 40 million tonnes a year, said
Dangote, whose cement empire worth an estimated
$20 billion has earned him the label "richest black
person on the planet" from Forbes magazine.
This month, Dangote Cement even had to cut prices
to make up for falling sales amid oversupply.
Like cement, demand for rice among Nigeria's 170
million population is huge, so he won't need to
think about export. Dangote estimates the current
rice deficit at 2 1/2 million tonnes a year.
Nigerians eat rice in outsized portions and no party
is complete without mountains of bright orange
"jollof" rice -- a West African style of cooking the
grains in tomato paste, onions and fiery peppers.
Parboiled, not white rice, is favoured.
GOVERNMENT SUPPORT
President Goodluck Jonathan made local
production of rice a signature promise before he
was elected in 2011. His government has an
ambitious target to import zero rice by the end of
2015, using incentives for farmers like free fertiliser
and tax breaks for investors. Jonathan will seek
another term in February.
Agriculture Minister Akinwumi Adesina has cleaned
up corruption in government handouts of imported
fertiliser, which have been hampered by fraud and
an inefficient supply chain stretching from the port
to the remote villages where it ends up. That was a
major obstacle to development of the sector.
Dangote says his own factories will soon be
producing more fertiliser than Nigeria could ever
need -- 2.8 million tonnes a year -- which would
cut out the need for imports altogether.
His plans for a 400,000 barrel-per-day oil refinery
and petrochemical plant remain on track, he added.
Rice smugglers from neighbouring Benin, Niger and
Cameroon are the biggest threat to his business
model, Dangote complains, but it still stands to be
highly profitable.
But with a reputation as a ruthless monopolist, with
interests in everything from food milling to
petrochemicals and a personal fortune equal to 4
percent of Nigeria's GDP, is Dangote not getting too
big? He expects some will say that.
"People not investing will raise their hands and say
'he's got a monopoly in rice'," he says. "Everyone
has an opportunity. If other people don't invest,
why is that my fault?" (Editing by Ed Stoddard and
Tom Heneghan)

source:
http://af.reuters.com/article/nigeriaNews/idAFL6N0SV5T420141106?sp=true

May God help u sir!

I love this quote by dangote
"People not investing will raise their hands and say
'he's got a monopoly in rice'," he says. "Everyone
has an opportunity. If other people don't invest,
why is that my fault?" - Dangote

grinface98:
May God help u sir!

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