The Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) has sealed a $1.4bn deal with the OCP of Morocco as well as the Akwa Ibom State government to develop a plant where ammonia and diammonium phosphate will be produced.
Partners in the deal also include the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Nigerian Content Development & Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Gas Aggregation Company Nigeria Limited (GACN), and Fertilizer Producers & Suppliers Association of Nigeria (FEPSAN).
Read Also: How NON-profits can manage their fund raising
The new deal comes under NSIA Gas Industrialization Strategy and will drive implementation of the Multipurpose Industrial Platform project, a backward integration initiative which builds on the successes of the Presidential Fertilizer Initiative (PFI) and other sovereign bilateral initiatives between Nigeria and Morocco.
The project is structured to commercialize Nigeria’s vast natural gas resources and satisfy Morocco’s demand for cost-competitive ammonia.
Five crucial agreements were signed under the deal designed to create a clear path for the second phase of the Presidential Fertiliser Initiative as well as the creation and operationalization of a Multipurpose Industrial Platform (MPI) in Nigeria. The MOUs were signed Tuesday at the Mohamed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P) in Benguerir, Morocco.
The first phase of the project will produce 1.5 million tons per annum of ammonia in two phases. Up to 70 percent of the ammonia produced will be allocated for export to Morocco and the balance will be routed to the production of 1 million tons per annum of di-ammonium phosphate (DAP) and NPK fertilizers to feed domestic demand.
“It is expected that project construction will commence no later than Q3, 2021,” NSIA noted in a statement.
“US$1.4 billion will be invested in building out the plant and its supporting infrastructure with a target operations-commencement date of 2025.”
The project will be sited in the gas-rich Akwa Ibom State. Land availability and accessibility; gas adequacy; sufficiency of marine draft; and other environmental and social considerations informed the decision to site the plant in Akwa Ibom.
At completion, the integrated ammonia and fertilizer plant will house – within its battery limits – the process plants for ammonia and fertilizer production, administrative buildings, fertilizer bagging units, water purification units, storage for raw materials and finished goods, onsite power plant and other ancillary facilities.
