Group partners Edo export clusters on agro-allied products

The Atlantique Marine and Engineering Services (AMES), a logistics facility and Boosh Global Network is working with the Edo Export Cluster for the exportation of agro-allied and other non-oil products in the state.

AMES Managing Director Officer, Charles Akhigbe disclosed this in Benin during a meeting with members of the Cluster and representatives of federal government regulatory agencies.

He said the collaboration was to increase export of agroallied and non-oil products to overseas to boost the agricultural Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the state and the country.

Akhigbe who is also the Managing Director, Edo Inland Container, added that it would help solve the problem of loss of 45 per cent of harvested products that cannot reach markets on time.

Akhigbe explained that agriculture contributes about $120 billion to annual GDP, representing between 24 to 26 per cent and lamented that little or no amount of per capital of the fund really gets to the small scale farmers.

He said the first phase of the inland port when completed would accommodate 12,000 containers while the second phase would take 8,000 containers, adding that it has a total strength of about 30,000 containers.

Akhigbe, called on the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) to designate AMES facility as a central processing facility as the establishment has the capacity of creating over 3,000 direct jobs.

Coordinator of the Cluster, Rhona Peters said the essence of the collaboration was to reduce wastages of agro-allied products, create jobs for the people in the state.

Rhona added that it would also equip farmers on how to get it right from the preparation stage to exporting stage, adding that cluster would soon commence the loading of about 200 agricultural products for export to overseas countries.