Amid current requires the Federal Authorities to ascertain commodity boards to handle rising costs of meals commodities, the Managing Director of Okitipupa Oil Palm Plc, Taiwo Adewole, speaks to Oluwakemi Abimbola on the difficulty and different financial points.
Nigeria is presently going through forex points. What are the nation's alternatives to earn foreign exchange within the house you use in?
Our personal perception is that this: we’re a Nigerian firm. Primarily based on the place the nation is now, present manufacturing ranges are decrease than native demand. So why do you need to fulfill the international market when there’s a market hole regionally? Effectively, I'm not closing the door on that risk, however we are going to in the beginning fulfill our native market, the native alternatives, earlier than exploring the international markets. Our loyalty lies with our nation and we’d quite be a part of our nation's financial transformation than search for alternatives overseas. No matter we do, if we extract what we produce, we deprive our individuals and the financial system, the native financial system, of the potential it has. So we can be a part of the group that can contribute to the event of our native market and meet our native demand earlier than taking a look at export alternatives.
One of many causes for the stress on the greenback is that we import agricultural merchandise. As a pacesetter on this subject, how can we get to the extent the place we’re self-reliant and don't have to begin importing a few of these merchandise?
That’s the reason my response is that our focus is on the native market. The extra we export our merchandise and there’s a hole regionally, you’ll proceed to place stress on the greenback as a result of your demand will proceed to rise. We’re among the many advocates that Nigeria has no cause to import palm oil for any cause. If you’re a producer, in case you are a consumer of that product, make investments regionally. Spend money on firms, spend money on native farmers who produce these merchandise so that you could create an financial system for them, as an alternative of placing stress on the federal government to launch {dollars} to usher in processed palm oil. Oil palm comes from Nigeria. So our focus needs to be on replicating that primary place on this planet, that we now have to be enough to have the ability to produce sufficient for native consumption after which export, that's my place on this.
In what methods do you apply expertise and innovation in your actions?
These days you’ll notice that we’re in a digital world. We’ll deploy new and extremely environment friendly factories for processing and probably refining to provide diversified merchandise from all elements of the palm oil. We may also implement new software program to run the varied processes within the worth chain in order that the corporate can profit from expertise in operating its operations.
There have been requires the federal government to arrange commodity councils to manage rising meals prices. Do you assume that is the suitable method?
I believe we have to take a look at free enterprise. Let the federal government restrict itself to creating rules and an enabling atmosphere by which companies can thrive. We've had commodity boards prior to now. What worth did they create to the farmers and operators in that sector? I'm unsure I'm snug with commodity boards, however let the federal government present the suitable rules, the suitable insurance policies that can appeal to international direct funding, that can appeal to actual businessmen into the sector and that the enterprise by which the enterprise sector will flourish. I have to let you already know that agriculture stays the biggest employer of labor, creating employment and creating alternatives. So the federal government must deal with creating an atmosphere that can appeal to the type of investments which can be wanted. That's a part of what we're speaking about immediately. The thought is that we will develop the scope of our actions, create jobs, create values for individuals and practitioners, and finally grow to be higher individuals.
As a participant in a sector with an important significance within the Nigerian financial system, what do you assume are the most important challenges and the way can we begin to really overcome them because the sector now not appears to be enticing to farmers?
I believe immediately in Nigeria the one problem that everybody faces immediately is safety. Farmers can now not safely go to the farm and count on to come back again. We’re very completely happy that the President has agreed to the institution of the State Police. For us, we will see this authorities taking some very optimistic steps to deal with the safety downside head-on. Security is every thing for everybody. Insecurity poses a serious problem even for us as Nigerians: we can’t simply go to work and are available again, in any other case you aren’t certain if we will come again. So if the federal government tackles the issue of insecurity, I imagine the atmosphere will go a protracted strategy to making it secure for us to do enterprise and for farmers to go to their farms.
How far have you ever gone in your try and recapitalize the corporate, particularly at the moment?
This is a crucial step in reaching the transformation we now have all been engaged on for the previous six years. Though we’re one of many largest agricultural firms in Nigeria immediately, we imagine that an necessary position or milestone has been achieved in our recapitalization program, which we began just a few years in the past. We now have gone by means of the varied approval procedures.
What’s going to the brand new funding be targeted on?
We’re utilizing this new financing for brand new expertise to spice up the enterprise. We’ll create the suitable atmosphere for the corporate to realize better gross sales or profitability. I imagine in what we now have carried out over the previous 4 years. Okitipupa Oil Palm Plc is poised for nice efficiency and good market share within the oil palm worth chain.
Okitipupa Oil Palm Plc is immediately a totally rebranded firm with a lot better potential that has by no means been explored lately. What's the magic?
After we arrived in 2018, the corporate was in a complete coma, with none hope for the long run. However immediately we need to thank God that it has grow to be a totally completely different firm. It holds the promise for the long run as a result of the consequence that emerges immediately is totally completely different. The varied methods and drastic choices we now have remodeled the previous three years have paid off with nice outcomes
In what methods has the rebranding taken place?
Effectively, it's been an ongoing strategy of redevelopment. After we entered in 2018, we began a cashless coverage, which gave us the power to have full management over our revenue. Because of the huge illegality happening in our plantations, with the help of the Ondo State Authorities, which offered the requisite safety, we had been in a position to implement quite a few management measures within the plantations, which had been absolutely applied earlier than our arrival. overrun by unlawful harvesters, a few of whom have even arrange unlawful factories close to a few of our plantations.
That’s to inform you how a lot we misplaced the corporate and to show that it was now not within the fingers of administration. The plantations collectively kind the soul of the corporate. Nonetheless, in 2020 we needed to change technique, which was very new, and on the finish of 2020 our consequence confirmed us that we had been proper with the technique we adopted, we had a return on gross sales of greater than 200 p.c and for the The primary time the corporate reported profitability enough to wipe out our twelve years of persistent losses. This was monumental for us.