Governor Muhammed Bago says the $5 billion memorandum of understanding signed by Niger Foods and Uttam Sucrotech International Ltd. will transform Niger’s economy.

Mr Bago said this during the signing of the MoU by the firm, a consortium of Brazilian and Indian sugar value chain experts, on November 20 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

He said the deal was targeted at developing 250,000 hectares of sugarcane fields and six sugar/ethanol plants in Niger over the next three years.

The governor said the deal was in pursuit of the Green Economy initiative of his administration, which was anchored on food security and industrialisation through large-scale agriculture.

He said the deal was also a product of a partnership between Niger Foods and the Nigeria Sugar Council to revive the $2.5 billion Nigeria Sugar Industry.

“The $5 billion investment is not just for Niger but for the whole country. It means Niger State is going to have a lot of fields that are going to be producing sugar cane and other very important agricultural products. It’s going to create employment for the youth and increase the country’s Gross Domestic Product. It’s going to create foreign exchange for the country,” said the governor.

According to Mr Bago, the programme represented hope for agriculture in the country, a pilot project for agricultural transformation in the country as a whole.

He said that to translate the programme into reality, it was imperative to partner with countries with experience and technical knowledge, such as Brazil and India.

He added that the project would boost electricity generation in the country as 600 megawatts would be established to use the plants, which would be scaled up to 1,000 megawatts.

(NAN)