Dangote, Four States To Acquire Peugeot Automobile

Governor Nasir El-Rufa'i of Kaduna state on Friday said that the state

government, Bank of Industry, business tycoon Aliko Dangote and some

states will acquire the Peugeot Automobile Nigeria Ltd (PAN).

El-Rufa'i who said this during the state's special day at the ongoing 37th

Kaduna International Trade Fair, named the other states as Katsina, Kebbi

and Jigawa.
He said a proposal to acquire the majority shares of the company had

already been submitted to Assets Management Company of Nigeria (AMCON).

According to him, the step is part of efforts to revive ailing industries

in the state to provide huge employment opportunities to the teeming

unemployed youths in the region and Kaduna State in particular.

He said that PAN, a critical partner in Kaduna State industrial history,

had gone down from assembling 90,000 cars per annum to merely 200 a year.

“Our hope is that when we acquire the majority share of the company, we

will restructure it to operate to full capacity of assembling between

90,000 and 100,000 cars yearly.
“We have the support of PAN as well as the government of France in this

drive.
“We are determined to bring back all industries related to Peugeot

established in Kaduna as part of plans to ensure that every youth in

Kaduna State has something doing,” he said.
The governor added that his administration had created more than 120,000

jobs in nine months, “but it is not enough; we have to work harder

considering the number of unemployed youths in the state”.

He added that plans were underway to revive textile industries in the state.

He said that Kaduna used to be the Manchester of Nigeria because of the

concentration of textile industries in the state.
He, however, said that all the textile companies had closed down except

two that were operating skeletal services.
“Kaduna State Government is committed to the revival of not only the

textile industries, but the entire cotton, textile and garment value chain

in the state in our development strategy,” he added.

El-Rufai also said that as part of effort to revive the agricultural

sector, the state government would soon enter an agreement with a company

to enable the state become a poultry hub in sub Saharan Africa.

“We are also making arrangement with another company to establish the

largest fertiliser storage facility in the country in Kaduna to ensure

that our farmers have access to fertiliser.
“The commissioner for commerce is currently negotiating with a foreign

company that is interested in establishing a fertiliser plant in Kaduna,”

El-Rufa'i said.
On mining, the governor said that artisan miners would be organised into

cooperatives to streamline all mining activities in the state to tackle

illegal mining.
He commended the organisers of the trade fair, the Kaduna Chambers of

Commerce, Mines, Industries and Agriculture (KADCCIMA), for bringing

captain of commerce and industries to the state.
He promised to work with KADCCIMA to ensure a better outing in the 2017

edition.
President of KADCCIMA, Dr Abdul Bello, said that the fair's theme,

“Promoting solid minerals sector for sustainable economic development,”

enabled stakeholders to brainstorm on the way forward due to current

economic challenges.
Bello added that the theme was deliberately chosen to complement and

support the genuine aspiration of the current government for a robust

diversification of the national economy.
NAN reports that the trade fair which began on February 25, will end on

March 6.
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