Lagos — A multi-million naira ethanol project, which is expected to help empower 5,000 peasant farmers, is being planned for Ekiti State. Dayo Thomas spoke with Mr. Tunji Awoniyi, project coordinator, on the project. Excerpts:

Fuel Ethanol Project

The Ethanol project in Nigeria is based on the e-10 policy of the Federal Government. Which means, 10% Ethanol, 90% PMS. That is what is supposed to be implemented now by the federal government.

And as at today, Nigeria is still importing fuel ethanol from Brazil, which means we are yet to commence the production or domestication of fuel ethanol in Nigeria. Our company, Crown Green Energy Nig Ltd. is at the forefront of this activity and Crown Agro-Allied Investment Ltd.

Our efforts are to domesticate the fuel ethanol production in Nigeria. The country needs about 1.3billion liter of fuel ethanol, and not a single liter is being produced in the country.

So, to meet this demand, we would require many hectares of agricultural materials, to be blended into fuel ethanol and into petrol stations. For the first time, the world has the opportunity to now integrate agriculture into energy, and when you do that it becomes a huge weapon to fight deprivation, either financially or otherwise.

By so doing, we would be developing from bottom up, rather than top to bottom. And the advantage of bottom-up development is, everybody is carried along because everybody is a contributor to the whole effort and you are rewarded accordingly.

This is not the case at the moment, particularly in the oil sector. It is from top to bottom. And that is why we now have the crisis we are now having in the oil sector.

Project Costing

The project is expected to cost about 14.4 billion naira. And that is about 115 million dollars. It is an integrated project, in the sense that we have acquired 12,000 hectares of farmland mainly for cassava production in Ekiti State.

We have another 10,000 hectares in Kogi State, for the same project. The total hectares we are expecting from Ekiti is 30,000 and by the time we are fully developed, we would have over 40,000 hectares. That is just for the agricultural aspect of the project.

For each 250 hectares you would require an agronomist, two assistants who themselves must be agronomists. We also require about eight laborers to support them in that area.

When you multiply that you arrive at a situation whereby for a 10,000 hectare farm, there would be about eight thousand workers. That has nothing to do with the Refinery.

In this case, we have the farm, refinery, then we have a 100 tons per day starch and flour mill along with it, and two 50 tons per day liquefied fuel plants coming along. So, it is a complex in itself, and the project is a waste-free project. There is no part of the materials used that will not be converted into an added value and for something else.

Accomplishment Time-frame

Our leaders want us to believe that we are in an impossible situation. We visited the most modern plant, on January 23 built in a town called Beihai in Quachi province in China, which produces 1 million litres of fuel ethanol daily from cassava.

And this factory was built in 12 months. So, if it can be done in other places why can it not be done in Nigeria? Why should it be an impossible task in this country?

The simple truth is that the oil business has become so lucrative for those controlling it that they have mystified it. There is nothing there. Our own project will be done within 18 months from design to commissioning stage.

Fuel for All Cars

The policy in Nigeria is called e-10 policy that means ethanol will be mixed at 10 percent level. The policy was supposed to have come onstream since last year.

We were told the Mosimi site was made ready to receive ethanol about a year ago. But intrigues among players in the industry will not allow the nation to move forward.

At 10 percent, every car, every truck on our street that uses PMS will be able to use fuel ethanol with PMS. No question of damages or adjustment needed on any car. In some countries they have gone to 20 to 25 percent.

Even in North America, you have some vehicles that run on 85 percent fuel ethanol and 15 percent petrol, and in some cases you have 100 percent fuel ethanol.

It is a complete alternative to what we are using at the moment. So, if the nation is serious, this is the best vehicle for rural development. Every unemployed youths, women and graduates can be brought in through mechanised farming.

Now, the Ekiti government is already talking of farm settlements and we are already discussing with the bank to finance all their Farm Settlement projects. We know that it is going to be a very viable project.

Project Funding

We are not demanding a kobo from government to finance the project. What we need is the conducive environment to operate from and the moral supports that will enable us to access funds from where they are located. We are talking with our partners in China and from our Chinese partners we have secured 80 percent of funds we would need for all our equipment. And the remaining 20 percent, is from First Bank.

Again African-bio-fuel fund are there, which is part of ECOWAS fund for development. So, funding is not a problem. The only two problems we are having, which we can still not explain is the off take agreement which the NNPC is yet to give us a blueprint of what they intend to do.

The policy is already there, it is gazetted, it is a government law, so these are the only areas, and we are ready to go. The contracts have been signed and we know who the contractors are. The Ekiti State government has awarded the roads to the site; the government is already clearing the Farm Site.

We intend to create about 5000 peasant farmers that would be linked directly with the ethanol project. They will be funded directly by this project and we would buy all their products.

Target market

It is very wide. Ethanol is the fuel of tomorrow. Because it is renewable. The one we are used to now is not and it is diminishing. The second market is the domestic market. And this we can divide into about three or four market segmentation. The first would be the NNPC.

As at today, by the law replacing 10 percent of PMS, NNPC would need 1.3 billion liters of fuel ethanol but none is being produced here. So the market is there. Again many people do not know that Ethanol can be used to replaced kerosene. And if we were to do that we would require about 3.75 billion litres of ethanol to displaced kerosene entirely and export of course.

It is cheaper, faster, cleaner and gives you a healthier lifestyle. Then we have the industrial ethanol market like the Pharmaceutical and others. And the law establishing the e-10 project in Nigeria mandates the NNPC mandated to buy everything we can produce.

Choice of Ekiti State

The question is interesting because none of us comes the state. But the company actually started its first project in Kogi State. We were given a 10000 hectares of land in the state and had even started our seed bank there, where we test different varieties for yield and diseases.

But the problem is that there is no government in Kogi State and that is rather very unfortunate. The environment in the state is such that the government does not have any policy on investment in the state. Nor creating opportunity for people to come and invest there.

The state has a serious government in place. And they have demonstrated incredible sense of seriousness. The deputy governor and three special advisers were with us when we went to China to sign the contract for Fuel Ethanol for Ekiti state.

Necessary Manpower?

We took that into consideration even before the signing of the project. And during the signing, one contract was signed and one M.o.U was signed based on management. We have agreement with our technical partners that they managed the plants for the first five years; while during this time we would intensify training of our own indigenous manpower.

And we have signed training programs. 12 engineers are to be recruited from here and sent to China for training. Ethanol is a totally new project in Africa, it is only in South Africa that we have ethanol factory, all other countries, there is none. So ours is going to be is going to be the first in sub-Sahara Africa.

We are aware that training is an important aspect of this project. And most of the training would be done on the job here in Nigeria. And as far as yield and the varieties are concerned, we are working with the best in the world today.