A joint venture between PZ-Cussons and Wilmar International has acquired 26,000 hectares of oil palm plantations in Nigeria and plans to invest a total of $650 million to develop the sustainable palm oil industry in Nigeria. In the 1960’s Nigeria was the world’s biggest palm oil producing country – a title since lost to Indonesia. This joint venture project has developed 2 million high-yielding oil palm seedlings imported from Malaysia, and upon completion of planting in 2015, Nigeria’s palm oil acreage will be increased to 240,000 hectares of plantations. The PZ-Wilmar joint venture is urging the Nigerian government to propose a backward integration policy much as it did for its sugar and cement industries. If implemented, the policy could save Nigeria up to $300 million per year in foreign exchange through the reduction of the country’s 350,000 ton crude palm oil imports. The project has already invested $165 million and has built a 1,000 ton palm oil refinery in Lagos, and it is hoped that this project, with the help of a backward integration policy, will drive Nigeria to regain a share of the 50 million ton global palm oil market.
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