By Christian Njoku
Sen. John Owan-Enoh, Minister of state for Industry, Trade and Investment on Tuesday visited the ailing Cross River Cocoa Processing Industry in Ikom to push for its resuscitation.
The minister who was there with a team from his ministry was given a tour round the gigantic facility that was recently concessioned to a company, A A Universal Bean and Co LTD.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Cross River Cocoa Processing Factory in Ikom was initiated in 2017 under former Gov. Ben Ayade, who projected it would be operational by early 2018.
Despite delays, it reached 95 per cent completion by December 2019, with test runs set for early 2020, it was however concessioned to AA Universal in 2022 but the factory had remained moribund since then.
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Speaking during the tour of the facility, Uwan-Enoh said he wanted to see for himself what was available on ground in the facility to see how the government could partner with AA Universal Bean and Co LTD.
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.
He said unfortunately, for far too many years, that area of the country did not even have a functional industry or processing facility which was a big challenge because they only exported raw cocoa beans.
“I am not deceived by the sharp rise in cocoa prices last season due to the value of dollar, when the dollar 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.
Encouraging officials of AA Universal Ltd the minister expressed plans 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 of AA universal LTD said the factory which hoped to create about 5,000 jobs when fully functional would add about $6.8 million dollars annually into the nation’s economy.
Agara added that with there improved handling of the produce and technological innovation, they hoped to enhance traceability of Cross River 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 AA Universal LTD, adding that, the chairman of the company was very dependable.
He however added that the challenge he forsees in the future was the availability of cocoa for processing in the plant because if the company’s offtake price is not competitive, the farmers would rather sell their produce to exporters who offer them a better deal.
(NAN)
