The newly-established Dangote Tomato Processing Factory in Kadawa, Kano State has begun a test run of its facility.According to reports,the factory has the capacity to process 120 tonnes of fresh tomatoes per day at full capacity, an official has said. The Managing Director of the company, Alhaji Abdulkadir Kaita, said in Kadawa on Monday that the company, which began test production last week, had processed 500 tonnes of tomatoes. “We have not commenced production at full capacity.
He said the company would do everything possible to ensure that the finished product met required quality standards. According to him, the management of the company will fix a tentative date for the official inauguration of the company soon. He said the company bought tomatoes from farmers at higher prices than the existed in the open market. “We purchase the commodity at N20, 000 per tonne irrespective of the tomato specie. “So we buy a basket of the commodity above N1, 000 per basket and the current price at the market is N300.
This is more than twice the price at the open market. “The farmers are happy about the price because we have had several meetings with the officials of their association before we agreed on the prices.
In the meantime ,AgroNigeria has pledged continuous support to Dangote Group especially on its huge investments into the agricultural sector.The Executive Director,AgroNigeria,Mrs Idongesit Mbaram said
the AgroNigeria mileage will always be used to project the efforts of Dangote Group.
In the same vein,The Country Manager,Afex Commodities Exchange Limited ,Ayodeji Balogun also applauded the efforts of Dangote Group as he described it as the true African dream.