Following plans by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and the Benue State government to establish a biofuel plant in Ashagba Guma area of the state, a core investor is set to emerge soon to midwife the project.
Speaking at the end of a follow-up meeting with a Benue State delegation led by Deputy Governor, Benson Abounu, the Group Managing Director of NNPC, Dr. Maikanti Baru, said that arrangements have been finalised to name the prospective investor after a painstaking due diligence exercise.
The GMD, who was represented by the Chief Operating Officer in Charge of Ventures Directorate, Dr. Babatunde Adeniran, explained that the core investor would provide 70 per cent of the required fund for the project, while Benue State government and the NNPC would take up the balance of the equity contribution.
The NNPC said upon completion, the plant is projected to generate about one million direct and indirect jobs for the populace, adding that the project would help link the energy sector with the agriculture sector through the commercial production of biofuels from selected energy crops.
