Labana Rice Mill in Kebbi State and the government of Republic of Benin are set for a partnership to boost rice production and exportation to African countries, Checkout Magazine learnt.
General Manager of Labana, Alhaji Abdullahi Idris Zuru told a delegation from Benin Republic that the company has a 16-tonne per hour capacity.
According to him, “The rice mill has been upgraded to 20-tonne per hour while another brand new 20-tonne per hour capacity will be ready for commissioning early next year and will then require 400,000 metric tonnes of rice for sustainable production annually”.
The delegation, accompanied by the Chairman of Labana Rice Mills, Alhaji Abubakar Abba Adamu, visited the 10,000-hectare Labana Rice Farms in Bagudo Local Government Area to assess the company’s capacity. The Republic of Benin and Labana Rice Mills of Kebbi State, Nigeria, have commenced A three-man government delegation from Benin Republic visited Kebbi State for the meeting with both the board of directors and management of Labana Rice Mills, to formulate modalities for the proposed collaboration bilateral discussions over the possibility of collaboration on large scale production of rice.
Speaking to newsmen after the inspection, the Director General of Benin Agency for Agricultural Development, Mr Jean Gbeto Dansou, said with 40 tonnes per hour capacity rice mills and 10,000 hectares rice farm, the government of Benin Republic are ready to go into partnership with the company for mutual benefit.
He said: “With what we saw, the proposal for providing 30,000 hectares of farm land to Labana along Malaviel and Karimama boundary areas in Benin Republic will be deliberated upon when we return home and thereafter, we shall invite you for the memorandum of understanding.”
