RMRDC IN TALKS WITH POTENTIAL INVESTORS TO ESTABLISH CEMENT PRODUCTION PLANT IN YOBE

Efforts are in top gear between the Raw Materials Research and Development Council (RMRDC), the Yobe State Government and the Organized Private Sector in the state, under the Private, Public sector Partnership initiative programme, to establish a Cement Processing Plant in Yobe State. The proposed project which is expected to yield direct foreign investment opportunities to the state as well as boost economic and employment opportunities, on completion, is projected to produce up to 5 million tons of cement per annum at installed capacity given the huge proven limestone deposits available in the state to feed the plant.

Speaking during an interactive session with the Director General of the Council, Engr. (Prof) Peter Azikiwe Onwualu, in Abuja, recently, Alh. Gambo Magaji,, Chief Executive Officer Dugge Management Ltd who led a team of consultants on a courtesy visit to the DG, explained that establishing a cement factory in the North Eastern region of the country, given its huge abundant deposits of limestone, was projected to create an opportunity for the development and utilization of the abundant raw materials deposits in the region as well as creating a platform to attracting both local and foriegn investment necessary for the industrial and socio economic development of the state and Nigeria as a whole.

The Magajin Garrin Dukka therefore called on the Council to support the project through the provision of available information and data on raw materials availability and sourcing methodologies including other relevant information crucial to the establishment of the project in view of the strategic position of RMRDC in Nigeria as a foremost raw materials research and development institution.

The former Federal Civil Service Commission Permanent Secretary also solicited for the Council’s involvement in the production of feasibility studies showing quantity and quantity of limestone reserves in Yobe state which he revealed was crucial to the planning and execution of the project. He appealed for the Council’s intervention in the drafting and implementation of investment friendly policies necessary to attract and encourage direct foreign investment into the project, even as he said the Yobe state Government was already fully involved in the project financially,

Responding, the Director General of the Council, Engr. (Prof) Peter Azikiwe Onwualu, said the cement plant project was very important and could launch the country into limelight both in industrial and economic terms given its viability. He it was capable of opening the windows for foreign investment required to fire up the nation’s industrial potentials for economic sustainability and growth as well as generate employment opportunities at the grass root within the region.

Prof Onwualu said the Council was prepared to do all it could to support the take-off of the project given that the Federal Government was currently shifting the economy of the nation to the non- oil sector to reduce over dependence on oil export revenue.

He also said that the Council had also re-strategized and was now in the position to offer direct services to potential investors, industrialists, policy-makers, researchers and other stakeholders in the Country, through the provision of information on raw materials availability.  He also said the Council had embarked on research and development activities on the processing of cement in the past and was therefore equipped to render qualitative contributions..