Dozy Mmobuosi,
Juliana Francis
Just when most Nigerians have given up on ever seeing new factory and factories in the country, especially in the southeast region, with many factories shutting down to be bought by night club owners, hoteliers, and churches, a Nigerian-born UK serial entrepreneur, Dozy Mmobuosi, stunned the nation by proposing to build multi-million naira Foods Processing factory.
The factory, Tingo Foods Processing factory, will be sited in the agrarian community of Onicha-Ugbo, Aniocha North Local Government Area of Delta State.
This achievement has further pushed and buttressed the argument that ‘if there’s a will, there’s a way.’ And the way is not just about building worship centres, nightclubs, and hotels, but factories that will be a source of employment for the teeming unemployed Nigerian graduates.
The formal foundation laying of the project took place in Ishiekpe village Onicha-Ugbo, Aniocha North local government area of Delta State.
The factory is expected to begin operations in the next 18 to 24 months.
The ground-breaking event was recently launched by Mmobuosi and attended by eminent persons in government and industry across Nigeria, including the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Mohammad Mahmood Abubakar.
Other personalities are the monarch of Onicha-Ugbo host community, HRM Obi Chukwumalieze 1, President General of Onicha-Ugbo Patriotic Union, Barr Peter Kogolo, and other respected chiefs of the town.
Tingo Foods is a subsidiary of Tingo International Holdings Incorporation. Mmobuosi, who is also the founder of Tingo International Holdings explained that the project which costs 1. 6 billion USD will also save Africa from paying foreign exchange to import finished food products.
He added: “It will aid the export of made-in-Africa foods to the world, enhance inter-Africa trade via the Africa Continental Free Trade Agreement and sell high quality and nutritious food products in Nigeria.”
Mmobuosi, an iconic tech guru is making the massive investment as a way of giving back to his birthplace, Delta.
He has vowed to revolutionise the African Food Industry and create direct employment for the teeming youths in Nigeria, providing a significant boost to the Nigerian economy and contributing to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The SDGs aim to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure peace and prosperity for all. The facility’s job and wealth creation will help support SDG 8, Decent Work and Economic Growth, and SDG 2, Zero Hunger.
Recently, the African food processing industry has thrived at a snail’s pace, with low productivity and poor usage of human capital.
Africa’s farmers and agribusinesses could create a trillion-dollar food market by 2030 if they can expand their access to more capital, electricity, better technology and irrigated land to grow high-value nutritious foods, and if African governments can work more closely with agribusinesses to feed the region’s fast-growing urban population, according to a new World Bank report launched recently.
According to Growing Africa: Unlocking the Potential of Agribusiness report, Africa’s food systems, currently valued at US$313 billion a year from agriculture, could triple if governments and business leaders radically rethink their policies and support to agriculture, farmers, and agribusinesses, which together account for nearly 50 percent of Africa’s economic activity.
Due to a combination of population growth, rising incomes and urbanization, strong demand is driving global food and agricultural prices higher.
Mmobuosi noted that the facility is the first phase of a multi-billion-dollar investment that Tingo International Holdings plans to make in the African food industry.
The company would decongest the labour market by creating no fewer than 12,000 direct employments by setting up its food processing facility in Delta State.
The host community of Tingo foods, Onicha-Ugbo, is a town located within latitude 6˚18’N and 6˚22’N and longitude 6˚20’E and 6˚26’E in the northern boundary of Aniocha North Local Government Area of Delta State, Nigeria. It is situated on a highland of about 40 km from Asaba on the Asaba-Benin Express Road connecting the West to the East of Nigeria.
OnichaUgbo is bordered to the East by Issele-Uku and Idumuje-Unor, to the West by Igbodo and Obior, to the North by Idumuje-Ugboko and Ewohinmi and to the South by Ubulu-Uku.
Mmobuosi is close to buying English Football League club Sheffield United at a £90 million takeover.
According to The Times, the 43-year-old who co-founded Tingo Mobile, an Agri-Fintech company that aims at helping African farmers, will be subject to the EFL’s Owners’ and Directors’ Test.
Sheffield United has faced a great financial crisis but Mmobuosi who is valued at $7.6 billion can complete the acquisition of the club after making a larger deposit of the money.
