The Federal Government of Nigeria has mandated all the flour millers to ensure a compulsory inclusion of a minimum of 20 per cent of cassava flour produced in the country into their total raw material inputs.
Before now bakers in the country neglected the inclusion of cassava flour despite the fact that it processes the same features and plays almost the same role with wheat flour. With the new policy and campaign, investment opportunities have been created for prospective Nigerian investors.
Taking investment considerations in this area
Some of the fundamental considerations to make when looking for any investment areas to embark upon so as to increase local production are:
Availability of local raw materials; technology convenience; human resources; capital availability and infrastructural adequacy
Of all these factors, availability of local raw materials seems to be the most vital. It is based on these factors that the writer has carried out research and market survey for setting up of this project. Flour has recorded a very high importation level in this county. Despite the input of few companies like Nigeria Flour Mills and others, the demand has overgrown the supply, hence some Nigerian companies resort to importation.
The market analysis
From statistics, about 60 per cent of the total demands are sourced from oversea countries. Looking at the applications of the flour generally the demand for the envisaged products of the proposed project remains undutiful.
Flour is used in various projects as inputs or raw materials. It is used in making of bread, biscuits (cookies), cakes, chin-chin, puff-puff, pudding, pancakes and as a substitute to baking wheat flour.
With the growth in the numbers of bakery firms, fast food industries, biscuits producing firms and other end users of the product, the demand increases every day.
Our research indicated that this product could be sold oversea to America, Europe and Asian countries. Nigeria starch and flour are regarded as one of the best in the world today and have international demand and respect too. Also some foreign companies within the ECOWAS sub-region do come to Nigeria to purchase in bulk. For details on the foreign buyers of these products, please contact the writer.
It should be pertinent to mention at the same time that anybody that wants to succeed in this business must not compromise on the internationally acceptable quality.
Raw material inputs and availability
Flour could be produced from cassava etc.
The machines are made to use any of these products as raw materials.
There is abundant cassava in all the parts of the country. There are also various varieties of these products, therefore adequate care must be taken to use the appropriate variety for this project.
Plants and machinery requirement
The main machinery and equipment recommended for this project are: Peeling machine, Grater, Fermentation tank, Grinder, Dryer, Siever, Sealing or Hand Sewing machine, international scale and other miscellaneous Equipment.
All these machines can be fabricated locally for any capacity needed.
This plant can produce 2500 metric tonnes (MT) of flour for a year or10MT per day, working for 250days in a year at 8 hours per day.
By estimation, 624MT of wet tubers would be used as inputs to produce the same quantity. Apart from locally made machines, there is provision for the use of foreign made machines by prospective investors. These machines are produced in Europe and can be procured and installed on agreement. For details prospective investors should contact the writer.
Production processes and charts
The production process for production of flour generally is summarized as follows. Purchase and weighing of the raw materials;
Sorting the tubers and washing them;
Peeling & slicing the raw materials into smaller units or pieces;
Washing these sliced pieces; fermentation of the sliced pieces and washing thereafter; Grating to get mash either before or after fermenting; Drying and sieving, packaging and bagging into 2kg, 5kg, 10kg, 25kg, and 50kg packs.
The sizes can be varied to cater individual foreign consumers according to agreed specifications.
Proposed location
The project can be sited in any part of the country, since the inputs are grown in virtually all the states of the federation.
Estimated number of staff
In a small scale, staff strength of about 12 would be needed. The number can be more than this if it is planned to operate on a medium scale.
Projected financial implications and analysis
The project can be started with an estimated sum of N16, 750, 000. The cost may be higher than this if the project is to be of a medium or large scale.
Based on the investment analysis carried out, the project has very high returns. The projected return on investment is about 53 per cent. It is more if the products are exported.
The payback period is about 2 years depending on the level of dedication and experience of the employees.
Conclusion
From market analysis also, the bakeries, fast food making companies and other end users are all there to purchase the products.
In conclusion, the writer and his team of investment analyst have found this project as economically, socially, technically and legally feasible to establish in Nigeria basically to export and service the local markets.
Implementations
For details as regards to comprehensive and bankable feasibility studies, investment advisory services, funding arrangements, procurement and installations of both locally made foreign machines on any of the SMEs projects, please contact the writer.
The post Investing in cassava flour production appeared first on The Sun News.
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