WACOT Rice Limited, Nigerian subsidiary of Tropical General Investments Group, has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Lagos State government to provide necessary technical support for sustainability immediately the proposed Imota Rice Mill is unveiled.
The rice processing factory, which is currently under construction is expected to have a processing capacity of 32 tonnes of paddy rice per hour.
As part of the agreement, Wacot Rice will provide operational support and management of the plant for a period of 9 months after its launch, with the possibility of renewing the contract once the deadline has expired.
According to the authorities, this privatization of the operations of the rice mill aims in particular to ensure the efficient running of the factory in the long term.
“It was necessary for the government to put the rice mill on the path to sustainability and hand it over to a company that will promote quality.
“We sought to partner with a large-scale company operating in the sector with a stable brand and an eye for efficiency. This brings forth this Joint Venture and technical support agreement with WACOT,” explains Dr Rotimi Fashola, special adviser for agriculture in the state government.
This initiative is part of a strategy to enable the country attain self-sufficiency in production of rice in a bid to reduce the import bills and meet the high demand of the commodity locally.
“We are ready to work with Lagos State to make the facility run smoothly. We will deploy the best skills, techniques and training to make the government proud of this investment ,” said Rahul Savara, Managing Director of TGI Group.
Founded in 2017 in Kebbi State, Wacot Rice has an installed processing capacity of 120,000 tonnes of paddy rice per year and a total storage capacity of 42,000 tonnes of the cereal.
