Remarks by Malam Nasir El-Rufai, Governor of Kaduna State, at the groundbreaking ceremony for the tomato processing factory of Tomato Jos

Tomato Jos reaffirms KDSG business-friendliness

Remarks by Malam Nasir El-Rufai, Governor of Kaduna State, at the groundbreaking ceremony for the tomato processing factory of Tomato Jos, held in Kangimi, Igabi Local Government Area, on Monday, 27th January 2020

PROTOCOLS

1. I am most delighted to welcome our distinguished guests to Kaduna State for another groundbreaking event. Ten days ago, on Friday, 17th January 2020, we were in Kubau Local Government Area to break ground for the Damau Milk Farm, our joint project with Arla Foods, designed as a pragmatic and sustainable solution to the security challenges that now accompany nomadic livestock production, create jobs and boost domestic production of milk and milk products.
2. Today, we are excited that Tomato Jos is expanding its investment footprint in our state by taking a leap from growing tomato and other crops, to building a processing facility to make tomato paste. With its farm in Kangimi, in Igabi Local Government Area, Tomato Jos has already impacted on its community, creating jobs and empowering its outgrowers with modern farming techniques and a route to market.
3. The Kaduna State Government welcomes this latest investment in the agricultural potentials of our state. Olam showed the way back in 2017, when President Muhammadu Buhari commissioned the hatchery and feed mill project that this multinational sited in our Chikun Local Government Area.
4. Kaduna State is well-endowed with farming potential, with vast arable land and many water sources. We are among the top producers of grains and vegetables, and we welcome the fact that processing facilities owned by private investors are being located across the state. Your Excellency, ladies and gentlemen, Kaduna state is the number one producer of maize, tomatoes, soyabeans, ginger and sorghum. We are calling on big investors in agriculture as well as agro-processors to move to Kaduna and produce more of these agricultural products. We have 46,000, square kilometres of land, and most of it is arable and are available for our large scale farmers .
5. Our approach to business is to be an enabler and a facilitator of value-creation. Government employs only a tiny fraction of the working age population. Therefore, it is imperative to encourage and support the private sector to create jobs, transfer skills and technology and contribute to public revenues. We have often said that our approach to business is simple: we are very friendly, and we become friendlier with those who create jobs and pay taxes .
6. The likes of Olam and Tomato Jos demonstrate why Kaduna State is ranked as the Number 1 place for doing business by the World Bank’s Doing Business Report for 2018. It is an accolade we are working hard to retain, not for popularity, but for the concrete results it brings in attracting and retaining new investments in Kaduna State.
7. I wish to now pay tribute to so many people that made today happen, Let me first congratulate Mira Mehta for locating Tomato Jos in Kaduna, as she explained, she started maybe it would be located in Jos and that’s why the company’s name is Tomato Jos, she moved to Nassarawa and finally ended up in the paradise called Kaduna state. Mira thank you very much, you are our favourite investor. Not only because you are the most beautiful, or because you are a female, or American, but because you are the most courageous of them all. The Governor of the Central Bank commented that you walked away from the Financial services industry to go into farming, I’m sure he’s not courageous enough to do that and I’m sure he’s still asking himself why did you do it, but anyways this why we appreciate you, this is why we keep checking on you. I remember one day, that for 24 hours we couldn’t reach Mira on phone, we all freaked out, we were worried about her, it turned out that her phone battery went out earlier than normal. So we are watching her very closely, we are very proud of what she has done, we thank her for all she has done to make our people here richer and become contributors to our economic growth, rather than being in dependence.
8. We wish you success in growing this business and helping to deepen the position of Kaduna State as not only a major agricultural state but also a significant destination for agro processing businesses. We welcome the combination of primary production and industrial capacity that this investment signifies.
9. I want to thank the US ambassador, both present and the immediate past ambassador. Both Ambassador Symington and Her Excellency, Ambassador Mary Beth Leonard, have shown uncommon commitment to encouraging this investment. Ambassador Symington was here amongst many visits to Kaduna and you have heard from the current ambassador that this is her first visit to any state in Nigeria after been accepted as ambassador. We thank you and we are grateful and we hope that in the next year when we come to approve this factory you will come back to Kaduna and in between come back again and again.
10. I want also to thank my friend and brother, Mr. John Coumantaros, the chairman of Flour Mills Nigeria and chairman, Nigeria America Business Council. Not only because Mr Coumantaros has invested aggressively in Kaduna state, but I know he is the silent hand behind encouraging Mira to undertake this trip. John, you have been a friend of Kaduna state, your late father has been a friend of Nigeria, the history of Nigeria will never be completely written without the mention of the Coumantaros family, and similarly the history of kaduna State will be incomplete without mentioning your contributions, thank you very much.
11. I also want to pay tribute to the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr Godwin Emefiele, because without the Central Bank, the agricultural revolution and the revival of the manufacturing sector of the economy wouldn’t have been possible. Mr Emefiele has brought a developmental thinking to the management of the Central Bank that is unprecedented. By creating various interventions to support local production, and development of local economy and jobs, Mr Emefiele is doing more than just being the Central Bank Governor, he’s a developmental promoter per excellence. We are very grateful for your support to Kaduna state, for your support to agriculture and your contributions in reviving many sectors of our economy.
12. Let me now recognize our team, the Kaduna state government team. We are here today because of the works of our investment promotion team. I would personally like to recognize our Senior Adviser and Counselor, Mr Jimi Lawal, who coordinates our investment promotion efforts, Umma Aboki, the Executive Secretary of our investment promotion agency (KADIPA), our Commissioner of Agriculture, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture, Mr Sabiu Sani, the MD of KADRA, who built this road at a time when we didn’t have the money to build it and many of the Kaduna State Government Team members that are not here.
13. Kaduna State Government is a “can-do” kind of government, largely because we have young people running most of the functions at the government. I also want to thank the Deputy Speaker of the State House of Assembly, who represents this constituency, for always being on the lookout for investments and doing whatever he can to ensure that whatever legislative support we need from the assembly is delivered. The Chairman of Igabi LGA, Jabir Khamis, I thank you for your support on this project. I want to thank the Hakimi of Riga-Chikun and the Sarakuna that are here for working and making Mira feel at home. I also want thank the people of Kangimi for supporting Mira and her project.
14. I wish to acknowledge the positive attitude of the communities in the Kangimi area to this project. By welcoming Tomato Jos, they have ensured that the livelihoods in the area can be improved. They have ensured that land is serving its purpose as a factor of production, promoting investments, job-creation, progress and development. Land is an asset for development, not for worship, and I urge other communities to embrace and welcome investors.