Nigeria tomato processors faced with cheap imports and infrastructure challenges

Nigeria is Africa's second largest tomato producer with 1.5 million tonnes of tomatoes annually, yet 45 percent of the produce will often perish. Tomato processing factories in the country are working to secure the market and keep out cheap imports, but lack of adequate facilities is making it difficult to produce tomato paste, a staple in the West African nation.
At Erisco Foods Limited in Nigeria's commercial capital Lagos, tonnes of tomatoes are being processed into paste for sale in the country.
Established in 2008, the foods manufacturing company deals in various commodities and started its tomato processing line in 2011.
Erisco is among the few companies that manufacture tomato paste in Nigeria where they have had to compete with cheap imported brands that saturated the market for years.
Eric Umeofia, the chief executive of Erisco says he started the company with a capital of 75 million dollars. He says that doing business in the country is becoming more difficult every day.
Poor transport infrastructure, cheap imports and unreliable power supply are some of the major obstacles in the way of investors.
Umeofia says his factory wants to avoid wastage by processing surplus produce from farmers. But he would like to see the government support the business more.
Tomato paste is a key ingredient in many popular Nigerian dishes like jollof rice and tomato stew.
The country produces about 1.5 million tonnes of tomatoes annually of which 45 percent perish.
Transport is poor and Nigeria lacks facilities to produce the concentrate needed by factories making tomato paste.
Consumers spend 360 million US dollars on tomato paste imported from countries such as Italy and China.
The "Mile 12" market in Lagos, the biggest one stop tomato shop in West Africa has a daily turnover of about 1,500 metric tonnes of tomatoes.
Africa's biggest economy and top energy producer has also been hammered by low crude prices, since it relies on oil exports for around 70 percent of government revenues.
President Muhammadu Buhari, who took office last year, has said a strengthened agriculture sector would create jobs and reduce the reliance on costly food imports.
The inability of farmers to feed a nation of 170 million people has led to an increasing reliance on imported food in Nigeria.
Last year the government effectively banned the import of almost 700 goods to prevent a currency collapse and encourage local manufacturing, but analysts say many items listed are not available in Nigeria in sufficient volumes.

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Oil isn't Nigeria's only problem sector

Pictures courtesy: Angela Ukomadu

Nigerian company recycles plastic bottles into eco-friendly homes

In the northern state of Kaduna, the compound of a non-governmental organisation known as the Developmental Association for Renewable Energies (DARE) is littered with thousands of used plastic bottles.
Across Nigeria's cities and villages, waste including plastic bottles and other non-biodegradable materials, end up at dump-sites and landfills or on streets often clogging drains and waterways.
But DARE has found an innovative use for plastic bottles, building houses as part of a renewable energy project.
The bottles are first filled with sand and then arranged in rows and linked together with string and a mixture of cement and clay to hold them in place.
Yahaya Ahmed, an environmentalist and the chairman DARE says apart from helping to save the environment, the bottle houses will also solve some of Nigeria's housing problems.
With a population of nearly 170 million, majority of Nigerians live in poverty in shanty towns or in basic concrete block and iron-roofed houses they have built themselves.
"I think it is sustainable, we can really really recreate a lot of jobs for our many many youths who first of all have not had the opportunity of having very good education or even those who have their degrees and are unemployed. But those who are even below, we have a lot of them and such simple technology can really absorb a lot of them so that we have less and less idle youths on the streets," he explained.
For a two bedroom flat complete with kitchen, toilet and bath, about 14,700 bottles of 0.75 litres will be used.
Siiba Ahmed, bottle house builder has been building bottle homes for the last three years. He hopes to one day soon construct his own house for his family.
"Before I learnt this work, I was a photographer before. So this my brother invited me to come and learn this work so that I can improve. So I came here and used about six months to learn this work. So after that if he gets another contract he will call me. We will build another one at Zaria after this one. And after that we will go to Kano and build our own house. So I am the first person to build this type of building in Kano," said Ahmed.
The bottle houses are not only cheaper than the brick one but also better suited for Nigeria's hot climate.
Temperatures inside the house stay low because the sand insulates them from the heat.
The project also aims to provide jobs for many unemployed young people.
"I think it is sustainable, we can really really recreate a lot of jobs for our many many youths who first of all have not had the opportunity of having very good education or even those who have their degrees and are unemployed. But those who are even below, we have a lot of them and such simple technology can really absorb a lot of them so that we have less and less idle youths in the streets," said DARE Chairman, Yahaya Ahmed.
Sammail Ismail has lived in his own bottle house for almost three years now. His old house was made of wood and would collapse during the rainy season. He says the bottle house is much stronger.
"It is not comparable because for instance if you take one block of bottle brick, when you compare with a block...cement block, it can easily break the block but this one, if you take a hammer you cannot break it," he said.
To provide more affordable houses for Nigerians, DARE plans to build its first complete estate of 30 units of two to three bedroom flats.

Pictures courtesy Seun Sanni

Link to the video:
Nigerians turn disposable plastic bottles into affordable housing

Nigeria's once thriving industrial north waits for Buhari's revival plan

Local leather tannery

Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari wants to revive Kano's ancient trading hub and end the pattern of spending focused on exploring oil in the south. But despite the non-stop talk of diversifying the economy away from oil almost nothing has happened as the government has yet to unveil a strategy on how to rebuild industries such as leather which once thrived in Kano.
The decline of Kano is a showcase for the decades-long failure of authorities that enjoyed easy oil money to support its once booming leather and textile industries, which has left the Muslim north poor and helped Boko Haram recruit unemployed youth during its seven-year insurgency.
President Muhammadu Buhari, a Muslim northerner, wants to revive the former industrial heartland in the north and end the country's dependency on oil revenues, now dwindling due to a slump in crude prices.
The army has recaptured most of the northern territory lost initially to the jihadist group, which has allowed trade routes within Nigeria and its neighbours Chad, Niger and Cameroon to slowly reopen.
But despite non-stop talk of building up industries outside the oil sector, little has happened since Buhari got elected in March 2015 on a ticket to "fix" the West African nation hit by mismanagement and graft.
The government will only later this month unveil concrete plans to develop the country, leaving the few remaining entrepreneurs in the ghost-town like industrial park in Kano alone to deal with a severe economic crisis.
Businessmen see little room to expand with still chronic power and water shortages, which have crippled manufacturing for years.
The slow start of Buhari's administration has delayed a World Bank to help rebuild northern areas "liberated" from Boko Haram because authorities have been unable to tell its experts what they want them to do.
Dragging the north out of poverty is key to keeping disenchanted youth from joining Boko Haram that seeks to set up an Islamist state.

Pictures courtesy Seun Sanni

Budding Nigerian entrepreneur blazing a trail in agribusiness

Young Nigerian entrepreneur Affiong Williams is on the fast track to becoming one of Nigeria's young billionaires with her fruits processing company Reel Fruits. The company packages, brands and processes locally grown fruits. From producing the products in her home to now having a small factory, Affiong has grown the company to cater to many stores in Nigeria.


Pictures courtesy: Angela Ukomadu

Zoo opens in Nigeria's Lagos as part of efforts to boost tourism

 

    If you live in Lagos, Nigeria's sprawling commercial capital or are simply visiting, you can now see some of Africa's wildlife up close. Located in a suburb 40 kilometres outside of the city, is the Omu resort which houses a zoo and an amusement park.
    Opened in 2014, Omu resort hopes to draw local residents and attract tourists coming to the West African country.
    Olabisi Falase, the resort's Public Relations Officer says they have invested over 836 million naira (4,201,005 U.S. dollars) in the facility.
    "We opened up this resort as a result of lack in the tourism industry. For a couple of people we had asked about tourism in Lagos, there really are no tourist destinations apart from only a handful. We wanted to have something unique, something that contains quite a number of activities. You know we have a zoo, an amusement park, we have a sea world, go-carting, quad-biking, and we have a fun area, play area for kids," he said.
    Nigeria is putting plans in place to revamp its tourism industry as part of efforts to wean the country off its reliance on oil revenue. A slump in global prices is hammering the West African giant's economy.
    Some of its tourist destinations include game and nature reserves. But many of these are located far away from major cities.
    Since its opening a little over a year ago, the resort has hosted nearly 450,000 visitors.
    Some of the animals were brought in from Cameroon and Niger.
    Apart from the zoo and amusement park, the resort also offers quad biking facilities and a play areas for children.

Link to the video: Zoo boosts Nigeria's tourists attraction

   

Pics courtesy: Angela Ukomadu