Nigeria has set its eyes on saving about N3 trillion annually by blending cassava bioethanol with Premium Motor Spirit (PMS). This process will also reduce the country’s reliance on imported fuel.

The Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Sen. Abubakar Atiku Bagudu, made this known at a capacity-building workshop for stakeholders on the cassava bioethanol value chain development project for the South East zone, held in Enugu, Enugu State.

The minister said the government is ready to empower 14 million smallholder farmers to be key players in the cassava value chain. He said this would be done through the Cassava Bioethanol Value Chain Development Project.

Bagudu added that under the national Bio-Economy policy, the Ministry is committed to promoting a circular economy that goes beyond the production and utilisation of ethanol.

According to the minister, “We are looking at the entire value chain, from high-quality stems and starch to the CO2 captured during fermentation and the annual feeds produced from distillery grains.”

The project, he said, will utilise the Triple-Helix Knowledge Transfer partnership, providing high-yield, disease-resistant varieties, driving investments, technology and market access, and providing the enabling environment and infrastructure.

A statement from the ministry, signed by the Director of Information and Public Relations, Mrs. Osagie Jacobs, said the minister was represented at the event by the Director of Economic Growth, Mr. Auwal Mohammed.

While welcoming participants, the Director of Agriculture, Economic Growth Department, Mr. Olaifa Alade, stated that the workshop was aimed at improving the capacity of stakeholders for effective implementation of the project and to lay a solid foundation for a project that sits at the intersection of industrialisation, energy transition and rural empowerment in the Cassava Bioethanol Value Chain Development Project.

He assured the various stakeholders that the Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning is committed to providing the necessary policy support and monitoring framework to ensure the movement of the pilot phase to a national success story.

He expressed hope that the insights gained from the training will catalyse a transformation in the agricultural and energy sectors, leading to sustainable growth of the country.

Participants at the workshop were taken through different modules such as Nigeria’s Bio-Economy Framework and Cassava Bioethanol, Cassava Bioethanol Value Chain Mapping, Stakeholder Engagement and Public-Private Partnerships, Project Management, Monitoring and Evaluation, and Implementation Effectiveness, among others.

Participants at the workshop were drawn from the state ministries of budget and economic planning, state ministries of agriculture, farmers’ associations, the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), NACCIMA, universities and research institutes within the South East zone.

The capacity-building workshop was organised by the Federal Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning (FMBEP) in collaboration with Meatia Global Services Ltd. and the Association of Deans of Faculty of Agriculture of Nigerian Universities (ADAN).