Traditional Ruler, NBTI unveils Kasuk Palm oil, processing factory in Calabar

…our aim is to give consumers value for money…Ntoe Ededem

By Ike Uchechukwu, CALABAR

A traditional Ruler and Agropreneur , HRH Ntoe Ededem Ayito in collaboration with the National Board for Technology Incubation, an offshoot of the Federal Ministry of Science Technology and Innovation, has launch a premium brand of Palm oil “Kasuk Palm oil” including a 10-tonne per day Palm Oil Processing plant in Calabar.

Vanguard reports that Nigeria is the fifth largest producer of Palm Oil globally, with an annual production of 970,000 metric tonnes while Cross River State is the second largest producer in the country, after Edo state.

Speaking during the unveiling and inuagration of the processing plant on Saturday, Dr Mrs Agatha Efa, Centre Manager for Technology Incubation Calabar,TIC, said that the factory which is an initiative of Edimentos Limited, located in Calabar the Cross River State capital, can produce 3,000 bottles of 1litre of Palm Oil in 72 hours.

Her words : “Projects like this are reasons why the Technology Incubation Center (TIC ) was established in 1999.

“The goal is to boost the economy, provide employment breach the gap between the very rich and the poor, it is a plus to Nigeria.

“We have never had something like this from a Native of Cross River State. The capacity of the factory is capable of producing 3,000 bottles of Palm Oil within three days.”

Presently, the annual palm oil demand in Nigeria stands at 2.5 million metric tonnes, whereas local production stands at 1.25million tonnes, leaving a gap of 1.25 tonnes.

On his part, CEO Edimentos Limited and Clan Head of Kasuk II Qua Clan, HRH Ntoe (Dr) Ededem Ayito III, said though the equipment aren’t of maximum capacity, the factory can produce 10 tonnes per day. He said funding from partners can boost production upwards.

“We have a lot of Oil Palm in Cross River State, but there is no value addition. When the TIC was created, I took advantage of it to add value to Oil Palm for export purposes.

“The equipments can produce up to 10 tonnes per day, but get our raw materials basically from 150 hecters of land currently, we intend to acquire more avenues for raw materials and we are calling financial institutions to come to our aid.”

The project launching attracted many of the traditional leaders in the state who expressed happiness in the project and implored that such projects should be increased across the state to help curtail youth restiveness and unemployment.