BENIN CITY- Okomu Oil Palm Company Plc has said that plans are underway to build the largest palm oil mill in Africa in Edo State expected to cost around 45 million U.S dollars (N15 billion).

The Managing Director of the company, Dr. Graham Hefer made the disclosure weekend when he conducted the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), Mr. Oscar Onyeama, round the company’s facility at its extension 2 in Ovia North East Local Government and in Okomu in Ovia South West Local Government of Edo State.

Dr. Hefer said that the company currently employs over 2,500 staff at its extension 2, adding that the 45 million. U.S. dollars palm oil factory expected to take off early next year in February will be sited around its current nursery area.

He announced that there will be a mark improvement in its production level when the factory fully takes off, moving from 40,000 tons of Crude Palm Oil (CPO) to more than 80,000 tons of 60,000 tons a piece or 120,000 tons of installed capacity in the extension 2 and Okomu Oil Mills.

On its rubber factory, Dr. Hefer said that it currently produces about 8,000 tons of dry rubber annually for export, adding that it will increase its planted areas to 1,500 hectares of rubber to give it some economy of scale and also add two vertical sterilizers in the oil mill.

Dr. Hefer who said his company has been in Nigeria for over 40 years noted that the visit of the NSE boss to the company’s facility will afford the stock exchange hierarchy to better understand its operating environment, particularly in view of some regulatory problems and other challenges in the sector.

“By next year we will have 9,000 hectares planted. We will start the civil works for the construction of the oil mill by February next year and we will reach about 80,000 tons up from 40,000 of Crude Palm Oil (CPO),” Dr. Hefer disclosed.

On the total cost of investment on its extension 2, he said it is around N5 billion – 45 million U.S dollars excluding the cost of buying the land and could increase to as much as 110 million U.S dollars at the finishing and installation of the factory.

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He explained that one of its biggest problems so far is trying to get past some regulatory issues, saying it depends on the support of Edo State Government to be able to move ahead in the sector.

“We are not going anywhere, we want to continue to create wealth from the soil for everybody to get the benefit of the company as it grows,” he stated.

Speaking with Journalists after the facility tour, the CEO, NSE, Mr. Oscar Onyeama said that he was impressed with what the company is doing, adding that the scale of production is highly technical as the entire team seems to work very well together.

He said that a lot more people needed to know the scale of what the company has on ground, particularly as the demand for Oil Palm Products in Nigeria far outweighs the supply and hence, the growth opportunities for the company is quite huge.

On removing stumbling blocks to growth of the company, Mr. Onyeama explained that businesses don’t really need additional incentives once the ease of doing business is removed, saying that its job is to continue to shine a bright light on the business space.

The Agric coordinator, Mr. Billy Ganza stated that Okomu Oil Palm Company had complied with the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) and signed Free Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) agreement with the communities surrounding its plantation.

According to him, its total planted areas which will climb to 9,000 hectares in 2018 are 3,766 hectares planted in 2016, 2, 281 hectares planted in 2017 and 2,300 hectares to be planted in 2018 in its extension 2.