OCP GROUP AND THE GOVERNMENT OF NIGERIA COMMIT TO FURTHER DEVELOPING NIGERIA’S AGRICULTURE INDUSTRY

• This week, OCP Group is hosting a Nigerian delegation chaired by the Minister of Petroleum Resources of Nigeria, Mr. Timipre Marlin Sylva
• This business visit aims to agree on the next steps of the industrial project officially launched in June 2018 and strengthen the bilateral collaboration following the success of the first phase of the Presidential Fertilizer Initiative (PFI) supported by OCP
• Through these agreements, OCP Group confirms its commitment to the development of a sustainable and inclusive agriculture in Nigeria

2nd March, 2021, Benguerir . OCP Group is hosting a Nigerian delegation, chaired by his Excellency the Minister of Petroleum Resources of Nigeria, Mr. Timipre Marlin Sylva. This business visit will run from Monday the 1st of March to Saturday the 6th of March and falls within the partnership between OCP Group and the Nigerian Government to support and develop Nigeria’s agriculture industry.

Following the success of the first phase of the Presidential Fertilizer Initiative (PFI) and the progress of the fertilizer production plant project launched in June 2018 by OCP Group and the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA), OCP and the Nigerian government delegation have today jointly confirmed the next steps.

First announced during the official visit to Morocco of His Excellency, President Muhammadu Buhari, President Federal Republic of Nigeria, the goal of the project is to develop a multipurpose industrial platform in Nigeria, which will utilize Nigerian gas and Moroccan phosphate to produce 750,000 tons of ammonia and 1 million tons of phosphate fertilizers annually by 2025. The following agreements, signed today at the Mohamed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P) by OCP Africa and the Nigerian delegation led by His Excellency the Minister of Petroleum Resources of Nigeria, Mr. Timipre Marlin Sylva, reaffirm OCP’s unwavering support of agricultural development initiatives in Nigeria. The agreements are as follows:

• A Memorandum of Understanding between OCP Africa, the Fertilizer Producers & Suppliers Association of Nigeria (FEPSAN) and the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) in order to commit to the second phase of the Nigerian Presidential Fertilizer Initiative (PFI 2).
• A Shareholders Agreement between OCP Africa and the NSIA for the creation of the Joint Venture Company (JVC) which will oversee the development of an industrial platform that will produce ammonia and fertilizers in Nigeria.
• A Memorandum of Understanding between OCP Africa, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), and NSIA to evaluate the opportunity of an equity investment by the NNPC in the JVC and for its support on gas.
• A Framework Agreement between OCP Africa, Mobil Producing Nigeria (MPN), the NNPC, the Gas Aggregation Company Nigeria (GACN), and the NSIA on gas supply for the industrial platform.
• A Memorandum of Understanding between OCP Africa, the Akwa Ibom State in Nigeria and the NSIA on land acquisition, administrative facilitation and common agricultural development projects in the Akwa Ibom State.

These agreements seek to provide Nigerian famers quality fertilizers adapted to the needs of their soil at competitive prices and produced locally. Moreover, they also aim to strengthen the solid partnership between OCP Group and the different institutions in the gas industry in Nigeria. They will materialize the technical aspects of the industrial platform. This industrial platform is leveraging Nigerian and Moroccan natural resources, namely the Nigerian gas and the Moroccan phosphate.

Back in 2016, OCP Group first partnered with the Fertilizer Producers & Suppliers Association of Nigeria (FESPAN) under the Presidential Fertilizer Initiative (PFI), supported by the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA). This collaboration stretched across the entire agricultural value chain, from the introduction of customized fertilizers adapted to local soils and crops to improving the availability of fertilizers in the local market at competitive prices. The partnership also included farmer support initiatives, supply chain development projects along with the strengthening of a close distribution system.

These investments have increased the local production capacity to more than 5 million tons per year, allowing Nigerian farmers better access to quality fertilizers. In line with this, 3 Blending units are currently under construction by OCP group in Kaduna, Ogun and Sokoto states due to start this year. With a total production capacity of 500,000 tons of fertilizers per year, they will serve as centers of excellence to promote exceptional agricultural practices and control technical aspects of fertilizer quality.