WACOT Rice Limited, a subsidiary of TGI Group which is based in Argungu, Kebbi
State, will create 60,000 jobs across Nigeria and West Africa through its partnership with
the USAID on the rice outgrower expansion project.
Deputy Chief of Party for USAID’s West Africa Trade and Investment Hub (WATIH)
project, Mr Karl LittleJohn stated this during the co-investment partnership launch with
USAID in Argungu on Wednesday.
He said: "The core objective of establishing WACOT in Argungu and the launching of
this partnership today is to create catalyst for investment and provide grants to more
farmers".
LittleJohn explained that the jobs created would be available across Nigeria and West
Africa. "We want to show that we can create jobs. And we want to also increase trade
investment with our partners across West African countries".
In his remarks, Chairman of WACOT Rice Limited, Farouk Gumel said that over 2,000
jobs have been created by the company due to the USAID partnership. He stated that
the expansion of the company has given opportunities for more farmers to cultivate more
land for rice production.
According to Gumel, "when the company was established in 2017, we hardly sold our
product for the first three months because customers were demanding for foreign rice
but today, we steadily sell Nigerian rice and people continue to ask for it. Many people
have shown interest in becoming our agents and marketers".
Earlier, the United States Ambassador to Nigeria, Mary Bert Leonard had said that the
US government's partnership with WACOT was to sustain food security and creation of
more jobs in Nigeria.
Leonard said that more than $8 million (about N3.1 billion) would be injected into the
economy through the partnership.
In his remarks, Kebbi state Governor, Senator Abubakar Atiku Bagudu said the
presence of WACOT Rice in the state has positively impacted its economy, adding that
the development attracted the USAID investment.
He commended the company for always being active since it commenced its operations
in the state, stressing that many women have benefited from their farmers'
empowerment.
Through the partnership with USAID, WACOT Rice is registering an additional 5,143
farmers to complement its already existing outgrower network in the state. And they will
cultivate over 5,000 additional hectares of land thereby producing over 20,000 tons of
paddy which will be utilised at WACOT Rice’s 120,000-ton rice mill in Argungu.
The mill was commissioned by the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo in 2017. It
produces premium household brands of parboiled rice Big Bull and Patriot.
Tropical General Investments (TGI) Group is a global conglomerate with a majority of its
investments based in emerging markets. TGI's investments focus on driving inclusivity
and value addition using locally sourced raw materials, state-of-the-art manufacturing
facilities and a highly skilled workforce to produce world class products that are
consumed both locally and exported to global markets.
