Morocco to Build Phosphates Factory in Nigeria

Morocco’s state-owned phosphates company, OCP, will build a fertilizers’ production plant in Africa’s most populous country, Nigeria, several Nigerian news outlets reported after a visit to Abuja by Nasser Bourita, Minister Delegate to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation.

The new plant will help Abuja boost its agricultural sector with a potential for exports to West African countries.

Nigeria’s President Muhammado Buhari welcomed Morocco’s plan to establish the fertilizers plant, which he described as a project that will enhance food security and create jobs, said the Nigerian Presidency’s Special Advisor on Media and Publicity in a statement.

“For us in Nigeria, it is like starting all over again. There was a time we had so much money and took things for granted,” Buhari was quoted as saying in reference to the declining revenues due to the fall in oil prices.

The new factory will pave the way for further economic cooperation and political ties between Morocco and Nigeria which has been supporting the Algeria-backed Polisario separatists at the continental and international levels.

Last March, Reuters reported that negotiations were underway between the OCP and Nigeria’s businessman Alikoo Dangote to conclude a supply contract for a fertilizers production factory that will be operational in 2018.