Minister seeks resuscitation of C’ River’s moribund cocoa processing factory
Sen. John Uwan-Enoh, Minister of State for Industry, Trade and Investment has called for the resuscitation of Cross Rivers moribund cocoa processing factory to an enhance economic growth,
The minister, who visited the state to inspect the coca facility in Ikom on Tuesday, emphasised the advantages of cocoa processing over traditional methods of production.
The former Gov. Ben Ayade initiated a N7 billion Cross River Cocoa Processing Factory in Ikom in 2017 and projected that the structure would be operational by early 2018.
Unfortunately, it reached 95 per cent completion by December 2019, with test runs set for early 2020, which did not happen.
The factory was later concessioned to AA Universal in 2022 but it had remained moribund since then.
Speaking during the inspection of the facility, Uwan-Enoh bemoaned the absence of a functional cocoa processing facility in the state even when it remained the hub of cocoa production.
According to him, cocoa production is part of the culture of the people of Ikom, Etung and Boki in Cross River.
‘’In fact, all the four cocoa estates established by Dr Michael Okpara in the early 1950s are in Etung.
‘’Unfortunately, for far too many years, that area of the country does not even have a functional industry or processing facility which is a big challenge because they only export raw cocoa beans.
“I am not deceived by the sharp rise in cocoa prices last season due to the value of the dollar, when the exchange rate crashes, our farmers will suffer losses unless we start processing.
‘’We must stop exporting raw cocoa and invest in functional processing factories; with support from the Bank of Industry, we can transform cocoa into more valuable products,” he said.
The minister, however, said his visit was to have an on-the-spot assessment of the cocoa facility to see how the government could partner with AA Universal Bean and Co LTD for an enhanced economy.
Uwan-Enoh said that plans were underway to convene a cocoa processing stakeholders’ session, noting that he was willing to return to see the factory operational.
On his part, Mr Chris Agara, Chairman, AA Universal LTD, said the factory was optimistic of creating about 5,000 jobs when fully functional and adding about $6.8 million dollars annually into the nation’s economy.
Agara added that with the improved handling of the produce and technological innovation, they hoped to enhance traceability of the cocoa, curb child labour and make the business more profitable for the farmers.
Similarly, a cocoa farmer, Mr Oputa Ayuk, said he had absolute faith in the capacity of the company, adding that its chairman was very dependable.
He, however, said that the projected future challenge in cocoa production would be the availability of the commodity for processing.
He said that this was because if the company’s off-take price was not competitive, the farmers would rather sell their produce to exporters who offer them a better deal.
NAN / Foluke Ibitomi
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