Nigerian cassava ethanol production capacity increases to 69 Mgy; $40 million invested; 10,000 growers participating

In Nigeria, the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria said that its members are investing $40 million in cassava-based ethanol. The Association said that 10,000 cassava out-growers were producing crop for ethanol, and that the current national capacity had reached 69 Mgy, more than needed for the anticipated demand of 53 Mgy for ethanol in Nigeria.

In Switzerland, the managing director of HG Consulting told the Sugaronline conference that Africa lacks the infrastructure and regulatory framework to become a major biofuels exporter at present. Meghan Sapp said that South Africa, Mozambique, Kenya and Nigeria showed promise as sugarcane or cassava-based ethanol, but that ports, roads, schools and clinics were needed for the plantations, refineries and workforce required. She noted that Malawi has been producing ethanol for 30 years, and that projects in Mozambique, Nigeria and Sudan were expected to come online by 2010.

Recently, fuel riots broke out in Mozambique, as scientists in Africa have called for a moratorium on new biofuels projects, saying that large-plantation tracts granted to biofuels companies smack of colonial-era policies. Africa is expected to suffer the most from climate change, and maize production could drop by 33 percent by 2028, according to Stanford University.

The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization’s World Food Program said that they are seeing an urgent problem with world hunger resulting from rising food prices.

Officials sent 50 Nigerian officials to the World Ag Expo in February to seek biofuel investment partners and technological expertise. Nigeria is a major oil producer, but the high price of oil has prompted the federal government to use oil for exports while focusing on the development of biofuels for domestic purposes, including three 20,000 hectare farms set up by the government for ethanol production. In related news, the central government of Malawi is seeking engineering firms to manufacture components for an ethanol-based stove, which the government hopes to use to reduce dependence on charcoal, firewood and paraffin.

The government of Nasarawa State has allocated $27 million to improve agricultural production including ethanol processing. The state said that it would construct an Agro Export Conditioning Centre at Keffi and establish a cassava ethanol processing plant at Doma, in conjunction with international investors.

Recently, Oloche Edache, FAO regional representative for Africa, said that Nigeria will require a 70 to 80 per cent increase in food supplies to meet its food requirements by 2015. He added that the national emphasis on biofuels development, carried out as a part of Nigeria’s commitments under the Kyoto Treaty, would put upward pressure on agricultural prices for the next decade. Nigeria has planned $876 million in agricultural development funding over the next four years.

Nigeria has been moving into high gear in ethanol production development. The Minister of Commerce and Industry said last month that Nigeria is building five new sugar plants and has the potential to become a leading ethanol producer. He noted new new sugar plants are being built in Jigawa, Bauchi, Taraba, Kogi and Lagos states.

Nigeria produces 50,000 tonnes of sugar out of a total consumption of 1.176 million tonnes. The National Sugar Development Council (NSDC) has requested a Presidential Initiative to construct six regional facilities producing 100,000 tons of sugar, 5 Mgy of sugar ethanol, and 25 MW of power for the factory and the national grid.

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