The Group President/CEO, Dangote Group ably represented by two Principal Officers of the Group; namely, Ms Zouera Youssoufou, the President of Dangote Foundation and Mr. Tony Chiejina, the Head, Media and Communication visits the Institute on courtesy visit on Friday, 12th June, 2015.
The DG/CEO in her welcome address described the visit as one visit she has always looked forward to because Dangote Group is one partner that cannot be ignored because of the Group’s large investment in Food processing, a core mandate of the Institute.
The DG/CEO recalled that the Institute first official contact with the Dangote Group was on Tuesday, 5th November, 2013 when the Institute made a courtesy visit to Dangote Group; and econdly, on 8th April, 2015 when the Institute was invited to discuss Onion project with the Dansa Foods (a subsidiary of the Dangote Group).
The DG/CEO indentified the following as general possible areas of collaboration with Dangote Group:
- Corporate Social Responsibility Programme notably on Youth and Women Economic Empowerment Programme at Local, State and Federal Levels by leveraging on the Institute’s various Technology Transfer and Entrepreneurship Development Training programmes for job creation which Dangote Group is noted for.
- New Product Development or Innovation based on indigenous agro-commodities of relative advantage in Nigeria.
- Contract Research on projects of strategic importance.
- Enrichment of the Dangote Group’s Training School Programme - Foundry, Welding, Electroplating, Machining skills etc.
- Development of Tripartite Partnership arrangement with the Institute’s national, regional and international partners on specific projects of interest (e.g. Waste management programme with Lancaster University, Food and Environment Safety with the University of Central Lancashire).
- Staff Retirement Planning through Pre-retirement Entrepreneurship Training Programme.
Upon enumerating the general areas of collaboration, the DG/CEO then zeroed into specific projects by inviting Dangote Group to partner with the Institute on the following projects:
- Industrial Enzyme programme bearing in mind that there is no local enterprise for industrial enzymes production despite the huge potential of this project in Nigeria in terms of raw materials and market potentials.
- High Nutrient Density Biscuits and Drinks for School Feeding Programme.
- Ready-to-Use-Therapeutic Food (RUTF) for management of acute malnutrition.
- Building of Entrepreneurship Complex to be branded “Dangote Entrepreneurship Complex”.
After the opening/welcome speech, the DG/CEO made a detailed presentation on the activities of the Institute since inception enumerating the Institute’s achievements on its R&D projects and job creation through its over 250 technologies that are relevant in all the 774 Local Government Areas in Nigeria.
The President of Dangote Foundation, Ms. Zouera Youssoufou in her response commended the Institute on its many breakthroughs in its areas of R&D focus. She said projects on High Nutrient Density Biscuits and Drinks for School Feeding Programme and Ready-to-Use-Therapeutic Food (RUTF) for management of acute malnutrition readily cut her attention and she will like to get Dangote Group involved on those projects through the Dangote Foundation. She however, promised to come back for further technical meeting with the technical group on how best the projects could be handled.
Mr. Tony Chiejina welcomed the idea of having a branded Entrepreneurship Centre at the Institute by the Dangote Group and promised that the duo shall make appropriate recommendations to the relevant authority at Dangote Group to ensure a working and beneficial partnership.