Executive Chairman of Richbon Group Chief CJ Muonagolu has assured that about five thousand new jobs would be created when the automobile assembly to be located in Anambra state fully comes on stream.
Speaking in an interview after the signing ceremony of a $40million memorandum of understanding with the Anambra state government in Awka, Muonagolu said his group will employ between 1,000 and 1,500 at 40 per cent capacity but that the number will rise to between 3,500 and 5,000 jobs when its production hits a peak in the next few years. This is aside from thousands of indirect jobs that would be available to Nigerians as a result of the project.
The company which will be producing XGMA brand of agricultural equipment, Sino trucks and Cedar commercial buses said its partnership with the Chinese firm was based on its track record which has rated it as the 3rd best in the world in the area of heavy equipment manufacturing.
Meanwhile the Federal Government’s agricultural transformation agenda is expected to receive fresh boost as the plant begins manufacturing of agricultural equipment in the next 18months. The Richbon boss, who signed on behalf of the company, said the factory on completion would facilitate the transformation of the nation’s agricultural value chain and enhance transportation and distribution chain
He commended the Federal and Anambra state governments for their efforts in encouraging Nigerian entrepreneurs to achieve their dream of job creation and industrialisation, stressing that the task of diversifying the Nigerian economy was the responsibility of all the citizenry.
In particular, Muonagolu commended the Anambra state administration led by Chief Willy Obiano for tackling the security challenges in the state and improving its investment climate, stressing the policy trust of the government will make the state an investment destination of choice.
According to Muonagolu, Richbon Group which is partnering XGMA of China, the world’s 3rd largest manufacturer of agricultural machinery and allied products was also considering additional investment in production and processing of agricultural products riding on the crest of its improved business environment to create more jobs for Nigerian youths.
Also speaking at the event, Anambra state Governor, Chief Willy Obiano, who signed on behalf of the state government, said his administration would continue to partner committed entrepreneurs in the task of developing the state through provision of enabling business climate and incentives.
He said his government has already signed gas and power supply agreements with leading power and petrochemical vendors to ensure that gas and power infrastructures that would feed the new auto plant and other industrial projects in the state are seamlessly delivered to facilitate their production process. Obiano said the Richbon project and others recently signed by the administration would help raise the state’s Internally generated revenue to over N2.5billion from the present N1billion.
