Gov Fashola to commission agrochemicals plant

The Candel Company Limited, a leading agricultural inputs development and distribution company, has announced that its integrated manufacturing facility for crop protection chemicals and foliar fertilizers at the Lekki Free Zone, Lagos, will be commissioned on May 26 by Governor Babatunde Fashola.

The multi-billion naira project, which is only in its first phase, when completed, will deliver a facility with capacity for 80 million litres of formulated products per annum.

It will enable Candel to deliver solutions most suited to Nigeria’s tropical climate and peculiar farming systems. There is currently no local production of crop protection agrochemicals in Nigeria with over $400 million in foreign exchange expended annually to import them.

Crop protection chemicals protect crops from weeds, pests and diseases when in the field, during transportation and in the store and are helping the quest for increased crop yields and better preservation by Nigerian farmers. Candel’s factory is configured to produce products specially targeted at small scale farmers as well as customised formulations with different surfactant levels for large scale farmers.

The facility has five process plants for Soluble Liquids (SL), Emulsifiable Concentrates (EC) and Suspension Concentrates (SC) of products from diverse chemical families. It has sufficient capacity to supply Candel’s own distribution network in Nigeria and Ghana with enough spare capacity for third parties in Nigeria and overseas. The target of the international market influenced its location at the Lekki Free Zone.

Construction of the production facility began early 2014 after an extensive Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) exercise under the full supervision and guidance of the Federal and Lagos State Ministries of Environment.

Charles Anudu, the Chairman of Candel Company underlined the company’s innovative and entrepreneurial spirit as well as the many years of experience in the field of crop protection and nutrition thus: “Our company has a reputation for being at the leading edge of innovation and entrepreneurship that have helped to frame our industry in the context of the local realities. Our world-class factory is geared towards tailor-made solutions that address the peculiarities of our farming systems thereby improving the industry economics and competitiveness of West Africa’s crop farmers.”

“We are determined to restore the quality standard that has since declined in our industry by ensuring that every product that is made in our facility meets the highest international standard for such a product. Nigerian farmers will get peace of mind when they buy any of the products made in this factory,” added Mr. Emmanuel Kattie, the Managing Director of Candel.

“We are very pleased that Candel chose the Lekki Free Zone to site its pioneering project and happy with the rapid progress and quality of construction so far. Projects of this nature create highly skilled and entry-level job opportunities for our local communities which is a major benefit of a Free Zone like ours. We will continue to ensure that the framework conditions are attractive for serious investors like Candel, especially with our state-of-the-art infrastructure,” enthused Mr. Yonghua Ding, the Managing Director of the Lekki Free Zone Development Company (LFZDC).

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