The Governor of Edo State, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, is finalising investment decisions with partners in China for the development of the Edo Modular Refinery, Benin River Port and the Benin Industrial Park, on the sidelines of the 7th Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation.
The governor is in China, with Nigeria’s President, Muhammadu Buhari, who led the country’s delegation to the summit, where it is expected that both nations will strengthen investment ties and boost bilateral trade.
The state government had earlier signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with some of the company’s during an earlier visit to China, and the input from the Federal Government for the projects would clear the way for their take-off.
The Chinese companies include the China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC) Limited, which has concluded preliminary work for the commencement of the Benin River Port, in Gelegele.
Three developers have been penciled down to spearhead the development of the Benin Industrial Park while a Chinese consortium made up of Peiyang Chemical Equipment Company of China (PCC), SINOPEC International Petroleum Service Corporation (SIPS), which is a subsidiary of SINOPEC, the top chemical giant in the world and African Infrastructure Partners (AIP), are to develop the Edo Modular Refinery, which is expected to gulp N2.1 billon.
Before leaving for China, Governor Obaseki had approved at the last state Executive Council (EXCO) meeting the sum of N700 million to be invested in the Edo Modular Refinery project from the Edo State Oil and Gas Producing Areas Development Commission (EDSOGPADEC) fund, deepening the state government’s commitment to the project.
The deal for the 5500bpd modular refinery has a component that provides for a fabrication yard, which will train Edo citizens on welding, refinery operations and fabrication works to enable them participate in the construction of the refinery as well as its operation.
With the agreements, it is expected that the investors, will soon arrive the state for the kick-off of the projects, after the state obtains all necessary regulatory approvals.
