Nigeria has set its eyes on saving about N3 trillion yearly 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, Abubakar Atiku Bagudu, said this 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 play a greater role in the cassava value chain. He said this would be done through the Cassava Bioethanol Value Chain Development Project.

Bagudu said under the national bio-economy policy, the ministry is committed to promoting a circular economy that goes beyond the production and utilisation of ethanol.

“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,” he said.

The project, he said, would utilise the Triple-Helix knowledge Transfer partnership – providing high-yielding and disease-resistant varieties, driving investments, technology and market access as well as providing the enabling environment and infrastructure.

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

While welcoming participants, the Director of Agriculture, Economic Growth Department, Olaifa Alade, said 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 was 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 would catalyse a transformation in the agricultural and energy sectors, leading to sustainable growth of the country.