Okomu invests $50m to raise CPO production to 80,000MT

Okomu Oil Palm Company Plc is investing $50 million to raise crude palm oil (CPO) production to 80,000 metric tons (MT)) per annum in the next five years from the current 40,000 MT.

Gbenga Oyebode, chairman, Okomu Oil Palm Company Plc, said the company was investing in the installation of milling facilities with the capacity to process 30-tons per hour.

At the commissioning of the extension 2 plantation located in ten communities in Ovia North-East and Uhunmwode Local Government Areas of Edo State, Oyebode noted that the milling machines would be commissioned in 2020 when they would be fully operational.

“I am happy to announce that the shareholders have also agreed to commence the installation of the first of the two 30-ton per hour oil mills, which will be located on this plantation at a combined cost of about $50 million.

“We expect that the first of the oil mills to be commissioned in 2020 at the time of our first harvest while the second will be finalised soon thereinafter. Once both of these mills are up and running, they will effectively double our milling capacity, and we can expect to process around 80,000 metric tonnes of crude palm oil per annum up from the current 40,000 within the next five years,” he said.

He explained that the certificate of occupancy for the acquisition of 11,416 hectares of land, including 660 hectares of cultivated oil palm, was signed by the immediate past governor of the state Adams Oshiomhole in 2014.

He pointed out that 50 hectares of palm nursery were immediately developed on the land in 2015, making it the largest of its kind in Africa, adding that within three years, about 9,000 hectares of palm oil had already been planted.

The Okomu chairman posited that the investments were the company’s commitment to the future growth of the establishment and Edo state ,disclosed that the company’s total of 33,000 hectares are all situated within Edo state.

In his address of welcome, Graham Heifer, managing director of the company, said the company operated two 30 tons per hour oil mills and had commenced the construction of another two 30 tons per hour mills which would be commissioned from 2020 on extension 2.

Heifer, who disclosed that the company provided opportunity for more than 14,000 Nigerian shareholders to own a part of the establishment, added that its net income had increased four-fold in the company’s share price since 2012 and the pay-out of annual dividends.

The managing director said that the company ranked 10th among listed companies with the largest turnovers quoted on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), adding that over N250million was being spent annually on corporate social responsibility to assist 29 communities.

He added that the Okomu had provided more than 8,000 jobs, financing more than 60 bursaries and skills acquisition programmes annually as part of its corporate social responsibility programme.

Godwin Obaseki, Edo State governor, who commissioned the oil palm plantation, assured that his administration would be pushing for further reforms to support the oil palm industry in Nigeria by collaborating with Ondo and Cross River state governors to work with the oil palm players, particularly the Plantation Owners Forum of Nigeria (POFON) and the federal govt to create an Oil Palm Council for Nigeria.

He assured that Okomu oil palm company would be among industries producing major raw materials for some of the processing companies to be hosted in the state’s industrial park.

IDRIS UMAR MOMOH, BENIN