Abeokuta: The Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Atiku Bagudu, has reiterated the Federal Government’s commitment to harnessing Nigeria’s vast cassava potential to drive industrial growth and economic stability. Bagudu highlighted this initiative during a capacity-building workshop for stakeholders on the Cassava Bioethanol Value Chain Development project in the South-West geo-political zone.
According to News Agency of Nigeria, the minister stated that the workshop aimed to advance a core pillar of President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda by leveraging the cassava bioethanol value chain to transform Nigeria’s agricultural potential into industrial growth. The workshop, organised in collaboration with Brand Coolstem Values Ltd., represents a strategic engagement involving the government, academia, research institutions, and the private sector under a Triple-Helix framework.
Bagudu, represented by the Director of Economic Growth, Auwal Mohammed, emphasized the project’s goal to transition Nigeria from merely producing cassava for consumption to producing cassava for energy and industrial use. Although Nigeria is the world’s largest producer of cassava, the country has yet to fully maximize the economic potential of the crop. ‘As the world transitions towards a greener and more sustainable economy, bioethanol presents a significant opportunity for Nigeria,’ he remarked.
The minister further explained that blending bioethanol with Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) could reduce dependence on imported fuel, saving billions of naira in foreign exchange. This initiative is expected to stimulate a bio-based economy, strengthen the Naira, and create opportunities for millions of smallholder farmers by integrating them into an industrial value chain. The project is aligned with the National Bio-Economy Policy, which promotes a circular economy by maximizing the entire cassava value chain.
Bagudu added that beyond ethanol production, the initiative would explore high-quality starch, carbon dioxide captured during fermentation, and animal feed from distillery grains. He urged stakeholders to leverage the workshop to acquire technical skills in high-yield cassava production and efficient processing. ‘As the ministry of budget and economic planning, we are committed to ensuring that every Naira invested in this project translates into jobs for our youth and enhanced food security for our families. We are not just building factories; we are building a future where Nigeria becomes a global hub for bio-resources,’ he asserted.
In his presentation, Prof. Olumuyiwa Jayeoba, the President of the Association of Deans of Agriculture in Nigeria Universities (ADAN), noted that Nigeria’s economy was growing gradually. Jayeoba spoke on ‘Nigeria’s Bio-Economy Framework and Cassava Bio-Ethanol,’ describing bio-economy as the sustainable use of renewable biological resources, biological knowledge, science, technology, and innovation to produce goods, services, and energy across various sectors of the economy.